November 14, 2025 | Updated November 13, 2025
12 Common Reasons Students Don’t read what you can do about it
from Terry Hayek
Why don’t students read more?
Digital distractions? Don’t have any books at home? Too many tests? Kim Kardashian? It depends on the student. It depends on illiteracy vs illiteracy. It depends on how you define reading (does reading lengthy character dialogue in Square Enix games count?) So below, I’ve collected some of the most common reasons students don’t read and provided some ways you can start to address this problem.
12 Common Reasons Students Don’t read what you can do about it
1. They haven’t found the right book or type of book.
How do you feel when your principal drops a book in your lap—something well-intentioned but even a little naturally interesting to you? Do you hate reading because you don’t want to read it?
Possible solutions: I tell my students that when I walk into a bookstore with 10,000 books, I don’t like 9,200 of them. The advantage? That means there are 800 books I’m dying to read. Nobody hates reading. Some of us are just more picky readers than others. We have a collection of books for students who think they don’t like readingtoo.
See also What I tell students who think they don’t like reading
2. They need common reading strategies that they can refer to from time to time.
Possible solutions: See here.
Possible solutions: “Marketable” reading for them. Film them reading. Start a “Caught Reading” class feed on Instagram or the #caughtreading hashtag (send it to me and I’ll tweet it). Approach it with the same creativity and passion that marketing agencies successfully market billion dollar companies with.
3. They need it specific reading strategies from which they can choose for themselves based on the context.
Possible solutions: Identify their strengths and areas of growth as readers, help them self-assess the same, then work together with them and their parents to create a set of 4-6 reading strategies from the list above (or others) for them to use flexibly depending on what they are reading.
4. Reading can be disturbing.
Reading is fun – until it isn’t. do i understand it What will be on the test? Am I up to par? Above? From below? What if I have to read out loud?
Possible solutions: Don’t have them read aloud unless what you want to assess is oral fluency! Do not put them in place. Don’t ask comprehension questions out loud. don’t do it always insist they “read at grade level” (Do you feel like reading Shakespeare after a long day, or would you rather come home and plop down on the couch and watch Lifeguard at a Bar?)
5. The reading space or “mood” is not right.
Too noisy. Too quiet. Too many distractions. Too warm, too cold – we all have circumstances where we like to read. I can’t read unless it’s completely quiet – someone talks and I’m done.
Possible solutions: Allow students to use white noise applications. Play white noise in the classroom (they will get used to it). Create reading spaces in your classroom. Ask your librarian/media specialist if they have any ideas. Dim the lights. Shop bean bags – even for high schoolers!
6. They need a reason to read.
And outsourcing it is not enough.
Possible solutions: Make reading social. The process, the reflections and the results. Help them see the value of both the process of reading (critical thinking) and the results of reading (knowledge). Help them see reading as part of the connection between the life they have and the life they want to have.
7. They have too many other things to do.
It’s hard to read when you have a million things to do. Who wants to “enjoy a good book” when they have 20 pages of homework to do?
Possible solutions: Help them create a personalized reading schedule that works for them based on their lives.
8. It’s not a habit.
Reading is a muscle. The more they read, the more they will want to read.
Possible solutions: They need a home library of “stuff” they want to read. Or on Epic reading app.
9. They have problems with phonemic awareness.
If they struggle with phonemic awareness, reading will be like climbing a mountain.
Possible solutions: Apps can’t solve every literacy problem, but they’re great for practice. Here are some elementary reading applications this may help. And some applications for struggling readers.
10. They have a limited vocabulary of words.
Limited sight word vocabulary means slow reading speed, which reduces comprehension and makes reading instantaneous.
Possible solutions: Use Knowji. Have fun with Frayer Models. Play Vocab games. But more than anything else, help them build a sense of momentum as readers. Encountering words in context is better than on an index card for long-term retention.
11. They struggle with their own identity as a “reader”.
These students see reading as something you do at school, not as an opportunity to think, have fun, learn new ideas, make friends, etc. Someone who engineers is called an engineer. Someone who writes is a writer. Anyone reading? This is called a student.
12. They need to know all the amazing things about reading – themes, knowledge, genres, authors, etc.
Possible solutions: So show them.
12 Common Reasons Students Don’t Read and What You Can Do About It; flickr user to attribute image eugenekim
