The first semester just came to an end, and the new semster is right around the corner and without school during the holidays your brain didn’t get to exercise enough. Finding the perfect book is the ideal way to fix this.

Not so many people understand how important it is to read at least once a day. Not only does reading provide benefits to young children, it also increases the brain power of older individuals. According to the New York Times, there are a few, but irreplaceable things that everyone needs since they were born in order to fulfill their development as a mature person. For instance, kids just need to be provided with food, shelter, play time and love. However, books are always of equal importance.

Believe it or not, the magic of books is needed in everyone’s lives. Indeed, an online platform called Ness Labs, providing neuroscience-based content, community, courses and coaches, has scientifically proved so. There are an infinite number of benefits that have been tested, and therefore shown as results in readers. These can be as simple as improving your ability to empathize or more complex health changes such as living longer, or perhaps slowing the progress of Alzheirmer’s disease. 

Reading improves the connections inside the left temporal cortex of the brain. This lobe of the human brain is involved in the understanding of language, as well as the learning and remembering of verbal information. Amazingly, the increased connectivity in this specific brain’s section can last for days after your reading session.

As said in “Psychology of Popular Media”, one out of three teenagers state that they haven’t read a book for personal pleasure in over a year. It is a pity to admit that most of the time, teens can’t afford to make room for reading in their busy lives. They have to make sure they are getting all of their homework done, are studying for that science quiz next Monday, are attending all of their practices and club meetings, going to bed at a reasonable time because of course there is school early in the morning, and not to mention their social lives, which should never be deemed or treated as less important. 

Nevertheless, the truth is that everyone should find time to read, and it should be a must. People shouldn’t forget about the real world and stop pursuing other things for that matter, but as long as they learn how to manage their time wisely, then everyone should choose to read in their spare time. All the health benefits involved will far outweigh those of just scrolling through your crush’s instagram account.

When it comes to school life, it is completely normal for teachers to see their students constantly on their phones. In fact, American teens spend close to eight hours a day on their phone according to a Jama Pediatrics report.

Of course, this extreme use has even more extreme consequences.

The Harvard Health department has proved that just like any other type of electronic screen, phones emit an incredible amount of daily blue light, even more than other devices. A continuous overexposure to this light suppresses the release of melatonin, a hormone that the brain produces in response to darkness, more powerfully than any other kind of light. Meaning that scrolling through all those TikToks before bed instead of choosing a healthier alternative, like grabbing something to read, can be seriously harmful to your sleeping routine.

High school students are the most prone to fall into the trap of the internet every night, and it is almost certain to believe that people from different ages are very likely to experience the same tendencies. They must know that unlike scrolling through a neverending net of social media, books don’t emit any type of blue light at all. That’s what makes reading before bed the ideal time for it. As said in “Anxiety Centre Website”, just by reading one page of that lonely book on your nightstand before falling asleep, you can reduce stress levels by as much as 68%.

Ultimately the power of words is irreplaceable in our lives. Everyone should make sure to pack that forgotten and dusty book in their shelves every morning, you never know when you will need it.