Getting Boys To Read

I scraped a pass in my English Language and Literature O Levels – QED you might suggest. My love of books came late, but it came. My love of writing came later still (together with a smidgeon of hate).

The National Literacy Trust says that one in five children and young people rarely or never read in their own time. We hear also that reading for pleasure amongst teenagers is decreasing.

My up-to-date point of reference for this issue is two teenage boys I supported as an Independent Visitor. They liked football, rugby, girls and computer games. As we got to know each other, they discovered that I was an aspiring writer and enjoyed books. They had absolutely no interest in reading. They couldn’t recall a book they had read in school, let alone in their spare time. I hasten to add they are not illiterate. We did have common ground in rugby and football, and I was happy to listen to them chat about computer games, even if I hadn’t a clue what they were talking about – it was communication, and that’s what mattered.  I used to mention books I liked, in an effort, I guess, to pique their curiosity; I even talked about music I enjoyed, including my love of opera – you can imagine the comments they made. 

We once went to see a Harry Potter movie, and afterwards I said, “You know Harry Potter was a book before it was a film.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, why don’t you try reading the book?”

“What for? We just saw the film.” 

Imagine an unspoken “Duh!” after that sentence. It was a fair point, and I realised their priorities, like millions of other children, lay elsewhere. It felt unfair to nag them about something that, at their age, did not excite me.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that we don’t need to encourage boys to read, but we can do it without making them feel they have some sort of deficiency, compared to girls. We know boys can and do read, but if they don’t choose to read in their spare time, then we have to find ways of drawing them in – graphic novels, books about computer games, and stories within a computer game, to name but a few. It is a problem that is not going away because of the many distractions boys and girls have in the present day; the simple fact is: many children, particularly boys, prefer computer games.

In my teens, I lacked confidence and self-belief. I would often talk to the boys about the importance of speaking out: to say what they wanted, and what they didn’t want in their lives – to know their rights in a world that has less and less time and resources for children, especially those in the care system. Among all the things they are going to need in life, I would certainly hope that at some point they develop a love of books and reading. Who knows, maybe they’ll even get into Oscar Peterson and Verdi – and I’ll get into computer games. 

I can honestly say that my difficulty and reluctance with reading and writing did not harm me, though you could argue I may have been a published author sooner than fifty-two. 

I gave a copy of my book to each boy. I think they were surprised that the talk of a book finally led to a physical thing. I warned them that the story contained no football or rugby, and only the briefest mention of computer games. It is about two girls, but they’re at the stage when the last thing they want to do is just read about girls. One of the boys told me he’d read the first chapter. 

Great. It’s a start. 

So, Giancarlo has found, in his personal experience, that it can be a struggle to encourage boys to pick up books. What do you think?

G. R. Gemin's novel Cowgirl is published by Nosy Crow. Find out more here.