The new millennium has been off to an interesting start. Within society, innovation and creativity have spiked in recent years, as have the numbers of teenage parents, culturally based violence and illiteracy. It's almost unfathomable to believe that a world that has managed to build machines that make life easier can't seem to solve the problems that human beings often create in the first place.

For most children, reading for leisure is deeply rooted to the environment in which they have been encouraged to learn and read. The National Education Association (NEA) reports that parental involvement in reading can be seen in fourth grade classrooms. Classrooms where involvement is relatively low have a mean average that is 46 points below average, whereas classrooms with high parental involvement have a mean average of 28 points above the national average. This a gap of 74 points. This report indicates that a lack of parental involvement in reading is more influential in diminishing a child's literacy than high involvement is in expanding a child's reading capacity.

Also, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, between 1992 and 2015 the average reading scores of 12th grade students saw a net decrease of four points. In other words, 12th grade seniors in 1992 had a better understanding and grasp of reading overall than 12th grade seniors in 2015 on a national scale. In 2001, the NEA commissioned a poll of middle school and high school students where only 49 percent of seniors reported reading more than 10 books a year.

What does all of this have to do with reading for leisure? It's simple. Reading is how we expand our vocabularies and grasp a deeper understanding of our languages. Reading not only helps us to understand language, but to think critically and creatively. Reading is how we learn about the world that surrounds us. Through these new lenses, reading can take us anywhere, including the depths of our own imaginations. Reading is one of the most basic ways in which we learn to grow into the people we hope to be.

So, what did happen to reading for fun? Well, I have a few ideas.

1. Immediate Gratification

The innovation and technology have grown exponentially over the past few decades. This technology includes the Internet, computers, smart devices, television and media. Many works of literature have become movies and television shows. One does not have to pick up the book to read about their favorite character. They simple need to pick up a remote to turn on their favorite show. Technology has not only affected literature, but newspapers and magazines as well. With news stations reporting on a 24-hour basis, staying up to date with current events no longer includes holding the morning paper in your left hand with your coffee in your right. All you need is access to the Internet and you can see interviews, hear reports and watch debates all on your own time. All in all, the impatience of the nation has bred an insatiable hunger in knowledge that is being fed with the quickest and most disingenuous solution leading to the growing rates of illiteracy in the minds of our youth.

2. Forced Reading Programs

Many of us have participated in reading programs in our schools. AR, or accelerated reading, was the reading program in my school. Depending on the proficiency test one took at the beginning of the school year, one had to acquire a certain number of points each semester. The problem with this program is that it did not account for the growth in reading one had over the course of the year, so the requirement never changed between semesters. Also, during all of your classes, 15 minutes was strictly reserved for AR reading. I don't know about you, but 15 minutes is hardly enough time to get through a chapter of a good book. Also, we were forced to read without having any instruction on truly enjoying and engaging in books. My entire family reads books, so I have always loved reading. However, I have had numerous conversations with people who don't enjoy reading because they were never taught to enjoy and use the full potential of their imagination.

So, now what?

We know that there is a problem in the United States with our reading scores. We know that there is a correlation of the learning environment of a child and their respective reading scores. If we truly want to solve the problem we must change the environment. So, I'm starting a reading challenge.

Every month, I will write an article about the books I have read that month and what they taught me. I will also list the books I intend to read next month in the same article. I'm encouraging discussion in the comments for recommendations and opinions on how these books have influenced society.

For July, I'm reading “The Raven King” by Maggie Stiefvater, “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen, “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan and Sun Tzû's “The Art of War.”

If you have recommendations, post them in the comments. See you next month!