Offering Teens a Better Alternative to the Infinite Scroll: Love-Powered Effort
Published August 2026
Teenagers already know that reading is good for them.
They know it makes school more successful. They know it matters for college and careers. They know adults want them to read more. They don't need another lecture about why reading is important.
What they do need—and what many haven't experienced yet—is a compelling reason to choose something that demands more effort, yet is ultimately much more satisfying than the endlessly addictive pull of their screens.
What Teens Are Actually Looking For
Students are well aware of the debilitating effects their screens have on them. In a 2025 survey, nearly half said social media has a negative impact on people their age.
But the same survey reveals something much more interesting about why they keep coming back: 74% said social media helped them feel more connected to friends, 63% said social media was a place to explore and share their creativity, and 52% said that much of what they viewed online helped them feel more accepted and supported during tough times.
Teens—like all humans—need connection, community, and creativity. The problem isn't their desire for those things. It's that scrolling offers a shallow, endlessly available version of them.
We can never compete with phones for instant gratification. If we try to entertain students, we lose. But the relentless, superficial satisfaction of our entertainment culture creates a new possibility.
Reading—and English class—can offer something much more fulfilling, something that actually gets us closer to meeting those basic human needs.
Why Reading Really Matters For Teens
Reading will never be as easy as watching videos or relaxing with friends. But teenagers know that becoming good at anything—sports, music, art, coding, a job—doesn’t happen overnight. It takes effort.
Our job is to help them discover that they're the kind of person who can put in the effort—and actually enjoy doing it.
Reading is arguably the richest place to experience that transformation.
When students stay with a difficult paragraph long enough for meaning to emerge, they don't just understand the text better. They understand something about themselves. They can figure it out. They can do hard things. They can get better at reading.
Those moments are easy to overlook because they often happen quietly. But they're the moments that change identity.
Students stop reading simply to finish an assignment. They begin reading because the effort itself is satisfying. They also discover that when they can make meaning from a challenging text, they usually have something real, and interesting, to say about it.
Love-Powered Effort and Learning
When we teach reading, we have an unprecedented opportunity to help our students cultivate love-powered effort.
Love-powered effort isn't activated by making every lesson entertaining. It isn't about waiting for students to feel inspired before asking them to do difficult work.
It's helping them discover that putting in the effort feels good.
Students begin to notice a simple but powerful pattern:
I put in effort → I understand something I couldn't before → I realize I'm becoming more capable → I like the way that feels → I'm willing to tackle something harder
What's not driving this feedback loop?
Grades. Rewards. Threats. An adult constantly telling students they should care.
Instead, the motivation comes from experiencing their own growth. And when students get opportunities to talk with each other about what they're reading and thinking, the payoff increases. They have something real to say—and the earned confidence of knowing they put in the effort to get there.
Enjoying this article?
Get practical, classroom-ready ideas like this in the Zinc Literacy Lens, our bi-monthly newsletter for secondary ELA teachers and literacy leaders.
We’re the coach. The game belongs to them.
Helping students discover that feeling doesn't mean carrying the burden of motivation ourselves. In fact, one of the most important shifts we can make is rethinking our role.
Coaches don't run the race for their athletes. They teach skills. They model persistence. They encourage. They create the conditions for growth. But ultimately, the athlete has to show up.
Reading is no different.
Our job is to teach skills, model persistence, and celebrate their wins—and create the conditions for growth.
Four Ways to Build Love-Powered Effort
Talk openly about effort.
Ask students how they actually feel about their screens. Are they satisfied with how much time they spend online? What do they get from it—and what don’t they get? What might make reading an interesting or useful alternative? Start with an honest conversation, not another lecture. It's their effort. Invite them to think about why it might be worth making.
💡 Check out our “Why Books?” mini-lesson for pre-made slides that facilitate a full-class discussion.
Make growth visible.
When a student works through a difficult passage and finally understands it, pause and name that moment. Help students connect their effort to the understanding they just earned.
Coach the reader, not just the task.
We need to go beyond simply rewarding correct answers. Name curiosity. Acknowledge persistence. Celebrate the willingness to stay with a difficult text long enough for meaning to emerge. Those are the habits that students carry long after they leave our classrooms.
Pick texts that reward a deep read.
The effort of reading only feels satisfying when the text is interesting, complex, and worth thinking about. Give teens multiple opportunities to try a wide variety of books, topics, and genres until something catches. Even better, invite them to recommend texts to each other—and explain why.
The Long Game
Every teacher hopes students leave the classroom reading more confidently than when they arrived.
Our hope is bigger: That students leave believing something new about themselves.
Not simply that reading is important. But that they can become the kind of person who sticks with a challenging task—and even enjoys the process.
Want more like this?
Join the Zinc Literacy Lens for clear, practical approaches to teaching reading in middle and high school.