Children are reading less and less and their screen time is exploding, an alarming new study finds

“ We are sounding the alarm. » On Tuesday 9 April, the National Book Center (CNL) published the results of a new study on young people aged 7 to 19, on reading and time spent in front of screens, published by Le Figaro. And the data is alarming, especially among the youngest.

And for good reason, between the ages of 7 and 12, the time spent on reading collapses: children spend approx 23 minutes a day. During screen time, jumps to 2:03 per day. A difference of 1h40 between the two activities. Per week, 30% of children spend less than an hour of their time reading. 38% spend one to two hours on it and 32% spend three hours or more on it. Time dedicated to reading only at school, for 92% of the children interviewed.

Children between the ages of 7 and 12 spend 1.40 hours more in front of screens than reading

Children also report reading an average of 6 books in the last three months. In detail, 10-12 year olds prefer adventure novels at 51%. But it is also at this age that they abandon their studies. In an interview given to Telerama, Queen Hatchondopresident of the CNL, warns: “ The first break with reading occurs at the age of 10-12, at a time when children begin to escape the sphere of parental authority and that of their teachers. »

More generally, the results for 7-19 year olds are also worrying., since on average young people spend ten times more time in front of the screen every day (3h11) than reading books (19 minutes on average). The study proves this, for example 16-19 year olds spend 1.25 hours a week reading compared to 5.10 hours a day on screens. “We can no longer reverse the trend, we can only correct it”regrets Régine Hatchondo Figaro.

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