One in four kids between the ages of six and 17 say texting with friends ‘counts’ as reading… and their parents disagree. That’s one of the findings in a new study released by Scholastic, which also details how parents see that as kids get more involved in the digital age, the time spent reading books for fun declines.
Scholastic’s Chief Academic Officer, Francie Alexander, says the challenge for parents is to keep a balance between technology and traditional book reading. She makes the case for keeping books in kids’ hands.
The study also found ways that technology can be a positive motivator to get kids reading, with 57% of children indicating interest in reading an eBook, and 1/3 of kids saying they would read more books for fun if they had access to eBooks.
Alexander says parents have a powerful influence to get kids to read for fun. The research shows that parental limits on technology time works best between the ages of 9 and 11. For older kids, Alexander advises making sure interesting books are in the home and readily available.