BBC – Katherine Sellgren
“Only one-third of teenage boys in the UK say they enjoy reading, a study by the National Literacy Trust suggests. The Trust found a significant drop in boys’ reading enjoyment between the ages of eight and 16 – from 72% at ages eight-to-11 to 36% at ages 14-16. Girls’ pleasure in picking up a book also dropped off in the teenage years, though not quite as markedly. At ages eight-to-11, 83% of girls said they enjoyed reading, but this dropped back to 53% at ages 14-16. Director of the NLT Jonathan Douglas said: “Young people’s love of reading steadily declines from the day they leave primary school to the day they leave secondary school – particularly when it comes to boys. “This is a trend we must reverse.” Mr Douglas said an increasing number of academic, social and leisure priorities, as well as a curriculum that puts more emphasis on homework and study, all played their part.”(more)