Reading Helps us Survived

“35% of the world is reading more during the pandemic” (Caplan, 2020) Should we need a forced lockdown to uncover the world of reading? As you heard several times from your parents or teachers, reading is an important skill.

This skill can allow us to understand common human activities like operating a new gadget or device through an instructional manual, responding to email as part of a scholastic activity, etc. 

Reading can transport us to different worlds and universes. As a literature major, I consider reading as a means of teleporting to a far away and unknown parallel universe.

But why do only few people love to read? We could say that the following factors have affected potential readers:

• Lack of encouragement when young

As reported by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) 72% of the youth are encouraged by their parents to read. While 24.25% are encouraged by their teachers. Thus, reading is something that needs to be passed on. If the majority of the adult Filipinos are not readers, the readership of the next generation will be decreasing unless a strong move will be done to cause the turn. The data is from the 2017 readership Survey by NBDB.

• Lack of access to reading materials

Due to the series of lockdowns, economic power of each household has been limited to essentials such as food. 
The Department of Education is trying its best to close the gap between the learner and the learning experience during and post pandemic.Several methods of delivery of knowledge have been practiced in different parts of the country.

• Lack of resources to sustain reading through purchasing printed or electronic book

With the rise of Netflix, free movie groups, and vlogs, contents are delivered in a more engaging way. Since most of these resources can be accessed for free if mobile data is available. This is a cheaper way to learn and be transported to a different experience.


The theme of the Department of Education for this year’s reading month reflects that reading can help us survive the difficulties because of the pandemic. The theme is “Bawat Bata Bumabasa sa Kabila ng Hamon ng Pandemya.” The pandemic is an unexpected silver lining to build a community of readers.

With this month’s direction from DepEd, to celebrate November as the Reading Month, what are the benefits of reading that is based on science?

According to the report World Reading Habits 2021, reading can:

• Reduce stress level by 68%
• Develop stronger analytical skill
• Improve memory and concentration
• Reduce the likelihood to develop dementia
• Expands vocabulary and improve your writing skills

As a conclusion, reading is reinforced as an indirect impact of distance education or online learning due to the pandemic. Lastly, reading has served as a way to cope up during hard times.