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Recent surveys show a significant decline in American schoolchildren reading for pleasure, from 70% in 1984 to 36% today.

Author Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and other adventure heroes, inspired generations of readers and creatives.

The decline in reading is attributed to digital diversions and ineffective reading instruction methods.

RALEIGH — I am not much of a weeper. But a recent survey of American schoolchildren is testing my stoic disposition. Only 36% of 13-year-olds say they read for fun at least once a week. Back in 1984, the year I graduated high school, 70% did so.

I certainly fit that profile. Indeed, I was one of the third of American kids in the 1980s who reported they read for pleasure nearly every day . Today, that figure is just 14%.

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