Middle School Boys (Dis)engagement with Literature

Abstract

When boys enter the early middle school years, typically 5th or 6th grade, they begin to lose interest in reading. The engagement they once had fades away and is replaced by a defiance surrounding reading. This research project was conducted through a phenomenological method and primarily used survey questions and observations for data collection. The study includes a 10-week reading project with 7th graders as well as a survey of 47 students to understand their lived experiences with literature. Student responses to survey questions were analyzed and brought into conversation with other scholarly works. The findings revealed that disengagement from literature is not exclusive to male students. While boys were less likely to identify as “readers,” a significant number of females also reported losing interest in reading during the early middle school years. This study also found that while students are still reading, the medium has changed. In particular, there is an increase in engagement with social media, video game instructions, and subtitles. This paper concludes that to combat disengagement, educators need to redefine “reading” to include alternative forms as well as allow for student autonomy in their reading.