National Literacy Trust finds only 35% of eight to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their spare time, a sharp drop on last year to the lowest figure yet recorded

Children’s reading enjoyment has fallen to its lowest level in almost two decades, with just one in three young people saying that they enjoy reading in their free time, according to a new survey.

Only 34.6% of eight- to 18-year-olds surveyed by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) said that they enjoy reading in their spare time. This is the lowest level recorded by the charity since it began surveying children about their reading habits 19 years ago, representing an 8.8 percentage point drop since last year.

It is also part of a broader downward trend since 2016, when almost two in three children said that they enjoyed reading.

  • Vodulas [they/them]@beehaw.org
    13·
    20 days ago

    Also having teachers that understand the value of literature besides traditional early American/European authors. Those authors are boring (for me) for the most part. If your school district forces that particular genre, let the kids read Frankenstein or other early sci-fi and horror. For the love of all that is enjoyable, don’t force Hawthorne on anyone. Especially when they are, as a purely hypothetical, falling asleep while reading the book in class.