The Worrying Effects Of Technology On Our Kids

ACCORDING to recent research by the National Literacy Trust, schoolchildren are more likely to be exposed to computers and mobile phones than books outside of school.

“Getting children reading and helping them to love reading is the way to turn their lives around and give them new opportunities and aspirations.”

A declined reading frequency with age was also found in children aged 14- 16 years old, who are more than ten times more likely to reject books altogether, compared to children in primary education.

More than 18,000 children aged 8-17 were asked about their reading outside of school as part of the study. It found that thirteen per cent of children had not read a book in the last month.

Jonathan Douglas, the trust’s director, said people who did not read books at a young age are more likely to suffer from serious literacy problems in adulthood.

“We are worried that they will grow up to be the one-in-six adults who struggle with literacy to the extent that they read to the level expected of an eleven year old or below,” he said.

“Getting these children reading and helping them to love reading is the way to turn their lives around and give them new opportunities and aspirations.”

The study identified that 'technology-based materials dominate as reading choices' with text messages, emails and social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace being the most popular reading material.

The study said: “While this rather large discrepancy can at least partly be explained by [secondary] pupils choosing to read texts other than fiction/non-fiction books, the books they read are also more likely to be longer, more complex.”

Ministers are planning on introducing a reading test for children in England at the age of six to spot those who are having difficulty to read at the start of primary school.