London, 4 June 2024 – According to a study carried out in United Kingdom and in Ireland, children read fewer books and generally read less challenging texts. The 2024 report “What Kids Are Reading” realized by Renaissancean international company that provides and supports learning for children, has surveyed more than 1.2 million pupils in approximately 6500 schools, detecting a decrease of 4.4% in the number of books read by students compared to last year.
As The Guardian reports, the result appears to be due to absences from school due to Covid and the lack of time dedicated to reading. The decline mainly concerns secondary schools, both due to the difficulty of the books read and the number. Students read progressively more challenging texts up to 10-11 years of age (the “Year 6” class, corresponding to fifth grade in Italy): the level of difficulty of the texts then seems to stabilize up to 13-14, and then drops drastically with age. start of upper secondary school. Not counting the first year of the pandemic, since Renaissance research began in 2008, this is the first year to see such a decline (4.4%) in the number of books read.
According to the professor at the University of Dundee Keith Topping, reports the Guardian, the data is “mildly worrying”, but is seen as a consequence of Covid: “There are several possible reasons for the decline, but the high number of pupils persistently absent from school post-Covid is probably the main factor ” he has declared. The more time students spend reading in school, the more engaged they will be in reading, he believes. For this reason, says Topping, “the Department for Education and other regional authorities should implement some measures to encourage schools to dedicate more time to reading”.
While the What Kids Are Reading report is primarily based on a study conducted by Renaissance, the report also includes the results of a survey of 71,351 pupils conducted by the charity National Literacy Trust. These data showed a 26% decrease in the number of children reading daily in their free time since 2005.
