A sign of the pending apocalypse:
Less than half of parents find it fun to read aloud to their children, new research shows.
Only 40% of parents with children aged 0 to 13 agreed that “reading books to my child is fun for me,” according to a survey conducted by book data company Nielsen and publisher HarperCollins.
The survey shows a steep decline in the number of parents reading aloud to young children. Only 41% of 0—to four-year-olds are now being read to frequently, down from 64% in 2012.
I don’t know which is worse:
A parent’s inability to find joy in reading to their child or that inability to find joy resulting in less time spent reading to their child.
Probably the latter. Right?
Though I can’t imagine not having fun reading to your child, it’s far worse—catastrophically worse—to imagine parents abandoning the reading of books to their children for the selfish and stupid reason that they don’t enjoy it.
What the hell is wrong with these people?
More disturbing news:
A significant gender disparity was also identified, with 29% of 0- to two-year-old boys being read to every day or nearly every day compared with 44% of girls of the same age.
What the hell is going on in the American home?
This is not an issue of time or money. This is not a survey about a parent’s ability to find the time to read to their child or the variety and quantity of books to read, which, depending on income level and work schedules, might present a barrier to reading at home.
This is a survey about how much parents enjoy reading to their child, how that enjoyment impacts the amount of time spent reading, and how the child’s gender might inexplicably affect the amount of time they read.
This is a survey about feelings and choice, and it signals disaster.
Elysha and I read to our kids every single night without fail until Charlie was about nine years old and Clara was about 12 years old. It began with hundreds of picture books and eventually transformed into the family gathering nightly for the Harry Potter series.
Followed, of course, by the films and the Broadway show.
After that, we continued to read to the kids more sporadically until it finally came to an end about two years ago.
I still miss it.
I loved reading to my kids. And on those rare days and nights when I didn’t want to read “Goodnight Moon” for the four hundredth time, I still read the damn book to my kids because it was the right thing to do.
Also, children who are read to daily—just 15 to 20 minutes—are almost three times as likely to choose to read independently compared to children who are only read to weekly at home.
Research also shows that reading to your child daily:
- Expands vocabulary and improves language skills.
- Builds early literacy and prepares children for school success.
- Enhances comprehension, memory, and attention span.
- Correlates with stronger reading and writing skills.
- Promotes a lifelong love of learning and books.
- Strengthens the parent-child bond through shared time and attention.
- Encourages empathy and emotional understanding by exposing children to diverse characters and situations.
- Helps children manage stress and emotions through comforting routines and stories.
- Stimulates the imagination and fosters creative thinking.
- Encourages curiosity and questioning, laying the groundwork for critical thinking.
- Creates a consistent, calming daily routine, often supporting better sleep and behavior.
The ROI of reading to your child is astronomical. It would be stupid not to read to your kid daily.
Yet parents are abandoning the process because it’s not fun?
What is wrong with people?
As an elementary school teacher for the last 26 years, I can also attest to these facts:
- The vast majority of my students still love being read to daily.
- My students still love reading in school, but it has decreased over the years.
- More than half of my students do not read independently at home.
- The students who read or are still read to at home perform considerably better academically.
Reading to your child for 15-20 minutes daily is not a difficult task.
For most of us, it was incredibly enjoyable. It created lifelong memories centered on our kids, the stories they loved, and the time we spent together as a family.
It turned both of our kids into readers who love books, choose to read independently, and love libraries and bookstores.
It will do the same for most children.
Even if it’s beyond your capacity to enjoy the process yourself.
