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For some time there has been speculation regarding the impact technology has had on childrens' reading and literacy. Over recent times it has been questioned whether technology actually helps or hinders children in this respect. This article briefly discusses several arguments from both sides. Does Technology Hinder Many have felt that rather than read a book or visit a library many children choose to watch TV, view a movie or play computer games. After a recent survey of 18,000 school children undertaken by the National Literacy trust in the UK, it seems these fears are perhaps not unfounded. Whilst one in five of those children questioned had never been given a book as a present, fewer than 50% between the ages of eight and seventeen read a novel outside of the classroom every month. From the 111 schools that took part in the survey results showed that 7% had never visited a library and one in eight had never been to a bookshop. Whilst one in ten claimed they did not like reading at all, around 50% said they enjoyed reading a lot. When the children were questioned about their leisure reading activites, magazines, emails, text messages and websites all featured very highly. The Trusts' Director Jonathan Douglas said, Getting these children reading and helping them to love reading is the way to turn their lives around and give them new opportunities and aspirations. Furthermore, he is worried that these children could grow up to be the one in six adults which stuggle with literacy. So, from this recent survey it appears that many children are often spending their time in different ways or somehow distracted by technology and are not reading as many physical books in the traditional sense. The worry is that their lack of reading could lead to potential literacy issues when they become adults. Does Technology Help Whilst the results from the survey may raise an eyebrow in some quarters, it does seem to overlook the fact that todays' technological advancements can offer children an alternative to traditional books; in the form of e-books. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an E-book as an an electronic version of a printed book. E-books can exist, however, without any printed equivalent and are usually read on computers, some mobile phones and devices commonly known as e-Readers or e-book devices. The e-book has actually been with us since Project Gultenbury in 1971, but has become more prominent in the public domain since the 1990s. In 2010 a study revealed that 66% of USA public libraries were offering e-books to their members. The popularity of the e-book has been steadily rising particularly amongst children and teenagers. For example, the company HarperCollins recently revealed that e-books made up 25% of all young-adult sales in January 2011, which was up from about 6% a year before. With the cost of e-readers such as the Sony Reader, iPad or the Amazon Kindle becoming increasingly more affordable it seems the use of e-books is only going to increase. Eliana Litos, an 11 yr old from New York who received an e-reader as a gift, said Some weeks I completely forgot about TV, I went two weeks with only watching one show, or no shows at all. I was just reading everyday. The increase in sales of childrens e-books are also echoed by John Anderson of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing when he stated We had an instant reaction — Boy, a lot of kids got e-readers for Christmas. If it follows the same trend as adults, it’s the start of an upward curve. Parents are also noting that their children are requesting e-readers and e-books as Birthday or Christmas presents and are delighted that their children are increasing the amount of time they spend reading. A case in point is Eryn Garcia who said that her local library provide over 3,000 e-books which were free and available to download. Ms. Garcia said, There’s something I’m not sure is entirely replaceable about having a stack of inviting books, just waiting for your kids to grab, but I’m an avid believer that you need to find what excites your child about reading. So I’m all for it. Conclusion. In concluding it appears that whilst children may not necessarily be reading as many physical books as they may have used to, many children are still reading books in the form of E-books. With the rise in sales of e-books and e-readers, perhaps many children will not have the literacy problems the inital survey feared. In many ways it is not a question about whether technology is a help or a hinderance, but rather the choices made by parents and children. It is the responsibility of parents to encourage children to read, whether books or e-books. If they choose to adopt the new ideas that technology can bring then there are benefits which can help both their general education and literacy. Whilst outside the scope of this discussion it is also worth mentioning that those children who do adopt technology, in its' many forms, will have greater Computer Literacy, which will probably stand them in good stead when they enter the workplace or other areas of life. In short, there is nothing wrong with reading traditional physical books nor reading e-books. Surely the most important factor is that children are reading books and improving their literacy skills, regardless of the format in which they are presented to them. What do YOU think? |
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