You probably won’t read this.

At least, according to a November study, “To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence,” done by the National Endowment for the Arts. The study found that Americans – especially us, the young ones – aren’t reading for enjoyment all that much.

Consequently, we’re doing worse in school and, if we do pick up a book once in a while, almost a third of that time competes with other forms of media – video games, instant messaging, TV.

This decline in reading-for-fun, said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia in a preface to the report, is something that is “simple, consistent and alarming.” The report, Gioia said, shows how this decline has “demonstrable social, economical, cultural and civil implications.”

Now, I’m an English major, so – not surprisingly – my knee-jerk reaction was something akin to Gioia’s.

The numbers are, at the very least, disheartening. The NEA study found that 15- to 24-year-olds spent seven minutes each weekday on reading voluntarily. We do manage to carve out a couple of hours for TV each day.

According to the NEA, the percent of high school seniors who read at a proficient level dropped to 35 percent in 2005, down from an already-disappointing 40 percent in 1992.

Sixty-three percent of employers rated reading proficiency as “very important” in a potential hire who is a high school graduate but 72 percent of them rate high school graduates as deficient in basic English writing skills.

It is easy to see, then, the progression between not reading and consequences later in life. However, to really understand the report’s findings, the numbers need a context.

Laurie Elish-Piper, professor of literacy education, said the low numbers of high school and college-age readers may not be so unusual.

“The adolescent phase tends to be when readers often become dormant because their time is being spent on assigned reading,” Elish-Piper said.

Students spend their time in school or engaged in other activities, she said. Assigned reading can deter kids from focusing on reading for simple enjoyment.

When students have more free time later in life, they may tend to read more, Elish-Piper said.

The NEA report doesn’t do much to acknowledge these possibilities for the 15- to 24-year-old group.

Admittedly, the NEA’s numbers are concerning. As an avid reader, I’d love to know I have many comrades. But – as the study seems to forget, and as Elish-Piper explained – it’s understandable that, at least at this age, I don’t.

What it comes down to is that, though reading and literacy is undeniably important – for academic success and for future employment, as the study shows – certain parts of the NEA report have to consider the other obligations students face.

Though the NEA report is certainly disheartening, its lack of context means things may not be as bad as those numbers alone, at least for the 15- to 24-year-old group, imply.

But for right now, to find time to read for fun, I often end up forgoing sleep and studying. Those extra two hours I’m supposedly spending on watching TV? I can’t seem to find them. I’m sure a lot of you can’t, either.

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