Give boys screen time and they’ll start to read

New research suggests that, for working-class boys at least, touch-screen stories are better learning tools than books

How can we get boys reading? It’s a question that for decades has exercised teachers, parents and literacy campaigners, and one that will need to be comprehensively answered by the “Read On. Get On” campaign if it’s to meet its aim of every 11-year-old “reading well” by 2025. It is a subject that can’t be broached without thinking about the increasing role of technology in our lives.

Research recently published by the National Literacy Trust and educational publisher Pearson shows that among low-income families, technology can be a “more engaging learning tool” for three- to five-year-olds than books. Boys were twice as likely as girls to spend more time with stories on touch screens than printed stories.

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