Obviously, the following is very dependent on the individual, but do you really think a reader is robust enough to replace the almost indestructible book for students generally ?
I'd suggest the earlier the stage of education the more unlikely this is, until they get to the further education/university level - when I reckon the chances of damage rise sharply again !
My son studies a reading-heavy humanity subject, but he also fences all over the country, and does a lot of gym, so books have to share bags with damp,sweaty clothes, sharp, hard, pointy, inflexible objects - all generally shoved in at great rates of speed - and naturally left in co-existence for sometimes lengthy periods !
(Even when in a bag without the sporty bits, said bag is often hurled around generally, sat on, things dumped on, like amplifiers, also their own heavy bags by house mates.....)
Then there's the beer situation......
And possibly the results......
?
Come on, they manage to kill hardbacks for goodness sake....
No, the day they bring out a waterproof, shockproof reader like those underwater cameras, that's when feel learned tomes can be put in digital form !
Course, I don't bring this up with any element of remembering what I was like in my youth, no no, far from it - I just buckled down and studied the nights away.................................