Paola Minekov

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I was interviewed for this article about how I’ve instilled a love of books and reading in my 8 year old at a time when reading enjoyment for kids is at the lowest level on record. 

Have you ever tried to get your child's attention while they're glued to a tablet or a phone... or watching TV? 

According to alarming research from the National Literacy Trust, children's reading enjoyment has plummeted to its lowest level on record. Less than half of young people aged 8-18 say they enjoy reading in their spare time. Let that sink in - fewer than one in two kids actually like reading for pleasure!

A few years ago I could have sworn that my children could survive an alien invasion without looking away from the screen. "Just a minute!" is the most I could get out of them. That "minute" typically translated to somewhere between half an hour and the rest of the day.

I'm not the only mum who's ever used her iPad as a glorified babysitter. Then, when my first son started waking up at 5:30 am to watch TV without supervision, my husband and I had a wake up call! We bought a Chrome TV, set up parental control and cut TV and screen time severely.

He was now allowed 15 min a day at 5pm, and if he missed it, he had to wait until the next day. He used to love watching How to Train your Dragon, so I bought the series of books. And he lapped them up. Soon reading replaced screen time as his preferred activity, he read fast and always took a book if we went out to dinner (still does). Soon his reading improved to much, he could read a novel a day...
 

The Reading Crisis: What's Going On?

The NLT's research shows that reading enjoyment has returned to the dismal low seen in 2020 when the UK first went into lockdown. There was a brief spike to 56% in May 2020, but the figures have since taken a nosedive.

As Dr Christina Clark from the National Literacy Trust puts it: "Reading for enjoyment is at an all-time low... This is a real cause for concern as reading for enjoyment is linked to better reading levels at school and higher literacy levels throughout life, as well as increased mental wellbeing."

Screen Time: Smartphones and devices are reducing the attention span of children and affecting child development

But can we blame the children? Smartphones are literally designed to be addictive. They deliver constant dopamine hits through notifications, likes, and endless scrolling.

Reading a book? That requires patience and sustained attention! Until you get into the story and finally can't put the book down. It does happen, as parents we just need to be strict.

If you're wondering about reading levels, here's a quick guide:

• Early Readers (Ages 5-7): Should be able to recognise simple words and read basic sentences. Unless, of course, they've been watching YouTube unboxing videos since age 2, in which case they might struggle to focus on a single page without swiping it.
• Developing Readers (Ages 7-9): Should be reading chapter books independently. Just turn off the TV, find out their interests - in our case it was dragons - and buy a few books. 
• Fluent Readers (Ages 9-12): Should be able to tackle complex plots and understand nuanced characters. 

Before you throw all electronic devices out the window, here are some practical tips for parents and carers:

1. Create Screen-Free Zones: Our house has a "no phones at the dinner table" rule. We get to actually talk to each other. If the children are too tired, they are sometimes allowed books. We used to give the kids a phone in restaurants to keep them quiet. Now we give them books.

2. Model Good Reading Habits: Children do as we do, not as we say. If they see you scrolling mindlessly through social media while telling them to read, good luck with that... Kids are not stupid, it can take some work to convince them you're working, rather than doom scrolling. 

3. Make Reading Social: Start a family book club. We still read with our children a few times a week in the evening. My second child had severe developmental delays and I still managed to teach him a love of books. We went from zero attention span, to being able to listen to 3-4 stories in a raw. He now takes his books with him, like his older brother does, and asked to be read to. I think this made a huge difference in his development.

4. Invest in a Variety of Books: As the NLT suggests, providing a range of different books for your children to choose from is important. Follow their interests and let them make their own choices. Even if the choice is yet another Peppa Pig book (I know, I never want to read another one of those, too). It's still better than a Peppa Pig episode though...

5. If you are bilingual: Read with your child in your own language. A second language is a gift and young children learn quickly and also pick up the accent very fast. We read to our children both in Bulgarian (my language) and in Dutch (their father's). There comes a time when children naturally start to prioritise the local language, and if they know you speak it, they may choose not to speak to you in your language. We got around that by having a Bulgarian nanny, for example. If you live to a bilingual country, English speaking Canada comes to mind, even if you do speak English already, you may want to invest into a French tutor. A time will come when your children will thank you, for the language, for the books and for the cuddles.

6. Schedule Reading Time: The brief rise in reading enjoyment during lockdown suggests that giving children dedicated time to read makes a difference. We read together at bed time but it could be any time of the day. If we're on a holiday, we often take a reading break in the afternoon.

For better or worse, the digital world isn't going anywhere, and completely banning technology would be as effective as trying to hold back the tide. But we can create balance.So next time your child asks for more screen time, perhaps suggest a compromise: "Finish this chapter, and then you can have 15 minutes of zombie-scrolling time." You might be surprised—they might actually get so engrossed in the story that they forget about the screen altogether.And if that fails, there's always the tried-and-tested parental technique of hiding all charging cables. 

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