Study: U.K. Kids Think Reading Is Cool
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Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 2/13/2008 2:00:00 PM
Who says kids don’t like to read? A new study from the United Kingdom says that the majority of young people (58 percent) actually enjoy reading very much or quite a lot and rate themselves as proficient readers.
In fact, kids are quite proud to be labeled as readers, with 71 percent saying the description fits them just fine. Not surprisingly, however, more girls than boys see themselves as readers—and girls tend to enjoy reading more than boys. But, overall, both sexes say they read on a weekly basis, either every day or once or twice a week, says the report “Young People’s Self-Perceptions as Readers: An Investigation Including Family, Peer, and School Influences,” issued by the nonprofit group the National Literacy Trust.
What are kids reading these days? Magazines, Web sites, and emails topped the list outside of school, while poetry, manuals, and factual books were read least. More girls tend to read magazines, emails, blogs, social networking sites, and poetry, but more boys read newspapers, comics, graphic novels, and manuals.
Here’s some music to every librarian’s ears: many of those surveyed described reading as a positive experience that made them feel “calm and happy.” Only a third of pupils said that reading is boring, and an even smaller percentage said that it’s stressful or makes them nervous.
Another positive conclusion? Only a third of those surveyed thought readers were nerds—and they were mostly boys. Girls perceived readers as clever and intelligent and likely to succeed in life. Boys, on the other hand, tended to think they were geeks.
At the same time, more girls than boys said their friends were readers and that their friends believed that they read well and encouraged them to read.
The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which “kids see themselves as readers, or the reader self-concept, an area of research that hasn’t really been explored,” says the National Literacy Trust.The organization surveyed pupils in 29 primary and secondary schools in England.
