Children are reading less. But is it their fault they spend more time on screens?

Education experts say the figures reveal a concerning trend, given reading is linked to success at school and in later life.

The portion of children aged five to 14 who read in their spare time has fallen by more than six percentage points in just four years, from 78.5 per cent to 72.4 per cent, the bureau’s cultural and creative activities survey has found. Boys in particular are eschewing books – only 68 per cent read for fun.

At the same time, the number of children spending 20 hours or more a week on a screen has jumped from 16 per cent in 2017-18 to 24 per cent in the most recent survey, which was carried out between July 2020 and June 2022 to account for COVID-19 restrictions.

Grattan Institute education director Jordana Hunter said the falling rate of children reading for fun was “worrying”, given children needed to read widely to build up their vocabulary and general knowledge.

She encouraged parents to help their children rediscover the joy of books. It was especially important children from disadvantaged backgrounds were encouraged to enjoy reading, given the reading proficiency gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students more than doubled between year 3 and year 9.

“We want our children reading widely and for pleasure,” Hunter said. “Often, if children don’t enjoy reading, it’s because they’re struggling with the mechanics of reading. Just reading books is not going to help them.

“If upper primary and secondary students are not enjoying reading, it could well be because they are struggling to understand those words … It’s really important that teachers identify what the cause of that struggle is.”

Younger children were more likely than teenagers to read for pleasure – 78 per cent of those aged nine to 11 read for fun, compared with 63 per cent of those aged 12 to 14, the survey found. About a third of children read for two hours or less each week.

Digital literacy researcher Joanne Orlando said COVID-19 had pushed children onto screens for more of their activities, and such behaviour had not fallen away when lockdowns ended.

She said adults needed to think about what they were asking of children when it came to online activities, and whether the request was necessary.

“Outside influences are driving kids online. It’s not just them – it’s the dance school, the swim school, the fact you have to use these apps now you’re in year 1,” Orlando said.

“That’s all good, but if you look at it collectively, these expectations force kids online … we don’t realise how many expectations there are from all of the child’s world that they go online.”

Nine in 10 children used screens, the bureau found, with most using them for more than 10 hours a week. Orlando said screen time could be good for children and it depended on how they used the technology.

“If they’re just scrolling social media because they’re bored, that’s not going to have a good effect. But if they are doing art work, or working with their classmates on a project, well that’s a good use.

“I spoke to a 12-year-old boy who loves cooking, and he watches all these Wagyu beef videos on YouTube. He’s learning how to cook, and he was so excited by it. He’s using it to follow an interest and I think that’s a good thing.”