Can Reading Improve Children’s Self-Esteem?
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There is often concern that children’s ability to read is declining as their use of tablets and other digital devices increases.
Latest research from Neilson shows that while the children’s book market was up +2% in 2016, the downward trend of parents reading to their children less and less continues. In 2016 there was a noticeable drop in parents reading to pre-schoolers, and a drop in children from age 5 reading to themselves.
Family Kids & Youth and Egmont Books have worked together to find out whether an intervention designed to encourage children to read with their parents would result in a greater love of reading. Over 12 months a challenge was given to 15 diverse families, who would not normally read together, to find out whether they would be ‘open’ to this, and what effect this had on children.
We discovered that an intervention not only prompts a love of reading but also has a marked effect on children’s self-esteem.
We found an increased level of confidence and sense of autonomy in the children who took part, which was reflected in feedback from schools, that importantly, had a big impact on the children’s self-esteem. The children and parents reported that teachers saw a notable increase in children taking an active part in lessons, a greater willingness to answer questions, and an improvement in reading levels. Children became sufficiently confident to choose their own books and no long relied on school or parents to make the choice for them.
FK&Y’s Dr Barbie Clarke and Egmont’s Alison David are speaking about the research at this year’s Children’s Media Conference on 5th and 6th July.
