Kids Still Wild About Books
By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/11/2008 10:30:00 AM
The rumors of books’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. A new study finds that 75 percent of kids ages five to 17 say that although they love technology, they still want to read books.
“The Kids & Family Reading Report,” also says that 62 percent of kids prefer reading printed books rather than those on a computer or a handheld device. At the same time, those who search an author’s Web site, use the Internet to find books by a particular author, or visit a fan siteare more likely to read books for fun every day.
Meanwhile, the study once again confirms that the time kids spend reading books for fun declines after age eight and continues to drop through the teen years. The report, conducted by Scholastic and the consumer trends research firm TSC, is a follow-up to a 2006 study. But this time the focus was on the role of technology and when kids’ interest in reading starts to wane.
“Despite the fact that after age eight, more children go online daily than read for fun daily, high frequency Internet users are more likely to read books for fun every day,” says Heather Carter, Scholastic’s director of corporate research. “That suggests that parents and teachers can tap into kids’ interest in going online to spark a greater interest in reading books.”
One in four kids ages five to 17 say they read books for fun every day and more than half of kids say they read books for fun at least two to three times a week. One of the key reasons kids say they don’t read more often is that they have trouble finding books they like—a challenge that parents underestimate. Kids who struggle to find books they like, are far less likely to read for fun daily or even twice a week.
The study also finds that parents have a strong influence over kids’ reading, but ironically, only about half of all parents begin reading to their kids before their first birthday. The percent of children who are read to every day drops from 38 percent among five to eight year olds to 23 percent among nine to 11 year olds—exactly the same time that kids’ daily reading for fun starts to decline.
The lesson? “Parent engagement in their child’s reading from birth all the way through the teen years can have a significant impact on how often their children read and how much they enjoy reading,” adds Carter.
The Kids and Family Reading Report surveyed 1,002 individuals—501 children ages five to 17 years old and one parent or primary guardian per child—from January through February 2008.
For a video presentation of the report, visit www.scholastic.com/readingreport.
