The Decline of Childhood Literacy

The link between the decline in childhood literacy and poverty has been well established since before the COVID lockdowns and yet, were exacerbated by them in ways that we could not imagine. Lack of resources, lack of role models and lack of incentive means that the BBC reported even before the lockdowns that more than half of the UK's children and teens did not enjoy reading in the spare time with disadvantaged children being more impacted than others. (BBC Newsround, 2023). There really is no sobering reality here, with numbers of children being able to read fluently and efficiently falling all over the UK since the coronavirus.

There are more key factors than just poverty though, with people putting the blame on everything from technology and social media to gaming and just a general lack of attention span to carry out tasks that require concentration. So, the key questions are:

- What are the factors of declining childhood literacy?

- What does this mean for the future?

- What are some basic solutions for this issue?

Part 1: Factors

The Coronavirus

In 2021, Branwen Jeffreys reported that the lockdowns were hurting the language development of children. It explored how not only were babies and toddlers not learning to speak and read properly, but the EEF suggests that even the lack of social contact has left the youngest children deprived of non-verbal communication mannerisms. The article states that because of this, the young children who would be starting school and have additional difficulties with communication are more than three times to have difficulties with reading and even, mental health. (BBC News, 2021).

And so, it is well established by now that children as young as those starting school have additional difficulties with reading that are brought on by the inability to communicate efficiently because of the lack of social contact during the pandemic. But there are other factors to this as well. The lack of reading proficiency cannot always be put down to the most common factor though, that is what we would like to think as it is something universal to blame that everyone agrees on. Sometimes, we need to place the blame on particulars that may not always accept it.

Parents and Caregivers

The actual ability to read is helped by the enjoyment of reading and, according to the National Literacy Trust in 2023 they have recorded the lowest enjoyment of reading in children since the trust initially began. Just 2 in 5 children stated that they enjoy reading in their free time with far fewer being boys than girls. However, the gender gap for reading has actually dropped due to girls falling out of love with the activity. The Literacy Trust analyses the impact of parents and carers on the situation with only half of children actually being encouraged to read, just over half seeing their parent/carer read and only just under 20% having read with a family member. (National Literacy Trust, 2023).

This means that there are definite environmental factors for reading. The placation of children using smart devices has been well documented across the modern age. The University of Michigan reported on the issue back in 2022 and found that self-regulation methods that would naturally develop in children do not when they are placated with a smart device. (Michigan Medicine, 2022) So, when something like reading requires you to respond emotionally to a text in order to truly understand what is happening, could the parents and caregivers placating their children with smart devices be to blame for hindering the emotional development of their children?

In the journal of Applied Developmental Psychology it was analysed that parental inefficacy was highly associated with screens and smart devices, whereas, in homes where there were literary practices, the association with smart devices and technology came down. It also showed that lower income households were often associated with higher amounts of television time for children and higher income households to be associated with higher amounts of computer time. The only type of household to be associated greatly with reading books with children were the households that had high income and high parent education.

This journal also showed that parents and caregivers with low efficacy-related stress were more likely to use smart devices as a passive psychological separation between themselves and the realisty of being a parent - an act of detachment from their children for a time. This means that teachable moments through environment are being missed and social contact is being hindered. Concluding that the pandemic is not the only reason for the lack of social contact but, instead is a catalyst for all of this to happen. (Bartlett, et al. 2020).

It is widely agreed that a proficiency for reading is linked to a higher attainment at school no matter on the child's background, family income, gender etc. (ReadingZone, 2023) but with parents and caregivers no longer reading to children as much as they used to or even encouraging their children to read, we can guarantee that the decrease in proficiency will continue being the root cause for every coronavirus-like catalyst that brings these same concerns to the forefront of the news.

Preference or Addiction?

Many adults have tried to get children to read and failed in the fight against these devices and medias that are consumed ad nauseam every single hour of the day by younger and younger children. With over 60% of children preferring either video games of smartphone usage to reading a book and many preferring television or tablet devices to reading a book (ReadingZome, 2023), it seems almost impossible to actually get children involved with reading. But why has this preference grown? Is it all down to the placation they experienced when they were younger?

In 2022, a Sussex Teacher cited their concerns over screen addiction in children to the BBC stating that some children were now sleeping with their smartphones. The problem was not necessarily just the screen addiction but the fact that these were primary school children. (BBC News, 2022).

But it is not just the preference or addiction argument related to the screen we are concerned about, it is the addiction to the content being viewed. With more than 40% of parents concerned about the amount of visual violence being viewed more often online and 45% of parents concerned about the addictive nature of the content, we produce a dangerous flowchart of alarms. (Kidscreen, 2023). Apart from being traumatised by the kind of content they see online, there is a concern of being targetted as well - this is maximised by the addiction to the content which is designed by teams of engineers to be as addictive as possible. (BBC News, 2022). Therefore, the type of media being viewed may not always be preferential to the child, but just an addiction fuelled by the media platform they are viewing it on.

Low Digital Literacy

Therefore, harmful things like targetted adverts, online grooming and other things become more of a possiblity. However, this impacts literacy in ways that are concerning and dangerous as well. Let's take a look at how digital literacy is also important.

Digital literacy does not only refer to the literacy rate required digitally to be able to live in the modern world, but it also relates to the media and how effectively you can stop yourself from being manipulated by it. Low literacy rates also mean low digital literacy rates. The more harmful things on these websites therefore become even more harmful when a child does not have the understanding to discern social media from reality. Thus, as they use social media more often because of its addictive qualities, they become less attached to reality, have low literacy proficiency and then, lack the skills required to break out of the cycle of manipulation and addiction.

Over 2'000 teenagers responded to a survey conducted by the BBC in 2022 showed that nearly half of younger teenagers believed the news that they read on social media. This is most obviously caused by a lack of proficiency in literacy due to the inability to see fictions, cohersive language and other tactics employed by biased media. (BBC Newsround, 2022).

Therefore, literacy rates are not only being impacted by digital/smart devices, but the over-use of these devices is impacting the way young people are actually understanding them, causing them to be drawn into the addictive tactics employed by them even more. This creates a low digital literacy paradox.

Part 2: The Future

Let's first define what very poor literacy is. The Pro Bono Economics Publication about adult literacy rates from 2019 states people with poor literacy are defined as:

"...those in our society who do not have the literacy skills to cope with everyday life." (Pro Bono Economics, 2019)

The concerns about the future are great and many when it comes to how younger and younger children are using social media and becoming addicted, steering away from the proficiency for literacy. Literacy rates declining means almost definitely that students may find themselves left behind at school, the gap between people who are high attainers and those who are not widens. Almost undoubtedly this will lead to more disadvantaged students in the future.

Currently, around 7 million adults in the UK have poor literacy skills or are what is usually called 'functionally illiterate'. (National Literacy Trust, n.d). But, at the moment we have 2 in every 5 children from disadvantaged families not being literacy proficient for their age group by 11 years' old. Thus showing that this cycle of functional illiteracy might continue.

With 1 in 14 children not owning a single book, again the environment for reading is not being fostered by parents and caregivers who do not provide children with the material they need to become more proficient and comfortable with literacy. If these rates continue, there is a large suggestion at a drop in confidence and self-esteem amongst young people and, coupled with what we already know about the dangers of the addiction to social media upon the health of young people - we seem to be heading for a digital literacy and mental health disaster. (UK Reads, 2023).

Therefore, if we were to look at the future if literacy rates are to continue their downward spiral the way they are, these are the impacts of those rates upon the future adults of the world, creating not only a mental health crisis, but an economic one, a social one and much more:

The impacts of poor basic skills can permeate throughout multiple facets of an individual’s life, affecting social, health and economic experiences. Individuals with very poor literacy are found to have lower levels of trust in others and civic participation, as well as worse physical and mental health compared to those with higher levels of literacy. (Pro Bono Economics, 2019)

Part 3: Solutions

The Environment

The encouragement of reading and writing is present in school life for most children, but the fact that it is not present in the home environment makes literacy become associated with the notion that it is 'only for school'. But, when parents or caregivers read to children, it is seen and studied to become part of the environment regardless of the child's background financially, their gender or their race. This helps foster reading habits and reading habits then foster higher literacy rates. (National Literacy Trust, 2023).

Freedom of Choice

Going to libraries and bookshops and getting children to choose a book by guiding them, but not forcing them, to choose certain books is seen to uplift reading rates in younger people. The freedom of choice over time fosters a commitment from the child who has felt as though they have made a decision to read something they are genuinely interested in. Holding the young person responsible for reading the book they themselves have chosen needs to be done by the person who guided them towards the text as well. (ReadingZone, 2023). The more this happens, the more the child finds themselves involved with texts and through reading something they are genuinely interested in, they become better at understanding the words on the page.

School

Fostering reading for pleasure in schools is alarmingly low and for a child to spend six or seven hours a day, five days a week in a place that does not cater to a love for reading is troubling to say the least. More disadvantaged schools may not have a library, or many not be able to take the children to the library. Mobile libraries coming into school are therefore a great solution for this problem. However, the implementation of this is up to the school themselves with many facing workloads that disallow them from participating in this vital piece of work.

In 2022, 1 in 7 state primary schools did not have a library, citing a lack of funding or lack of space. (National Literacy Trust, 2022). And, with many mobile libraries being scrapped or their fees being put up, there is far less opportunity and money than ever before. This means that the workload of the schools mixed with the lack of funding for the libraries means that children may not get access to books at all. So how can schools solve this problem?

Making short reading activities relevant to the classroom practice is one way of doing this. Interesting topics for comprehension and partnered reading is often the way to go. This then expands in secondary school when novel-length reading is required. But, on the whole does not cost a lot of money in comparison to a library.

Conclusion

There is no easy answer to solving the problem of low literacy rates. Practise cannot fix everything and yet, it can help the issue become smaller. The addictions to smart devices and the lack of parental/caregiver care seems to be the most vital part of encouraging reading and making sure the child does not develop a lower literacy rate than their classmates. This fostering of quiet, calming environments with behaviours that children start learning in the home has been researched over and over again to be able to make all the difference.

Sources Cited:

• Barlett, N. D., Gentile, D. A., Barlett, C. P., Eisenmann, J. C., Walsh, D. A., & Sleep, S. (2020). "Relative effects of differing intensities of physical activity on mother–child co-physical activity and child physical activity." Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 71.
• BBC News. (2021). "Children 'left behind' in reading."
• BBC News. (2022). "Reading for pleasure 'boosts social progress.'"
• BBC News. (2022). "What parents need to know to keep their kids safe online."
• BBC Newsround. (2022). "Nearly half of 11-16 year olds believe the news on social media."
• BBC Newsround. (2023). "Why children's reading skills are declining – and how to help."
• Kidscreen. (2023). "BBC study finds that UK parents are concerned about rising screen time."
• Michigan Medicine. (2022). "Frequently Using Digital Devices to Soothe Young Children May Backfire." University of Michigan
• National Literacy Trust. (n.d.). "Adult Literacy."
• National Literacy Trust. (2023). "Children and Young People's Reading in 2023."
• National Literacy Trust. (2022). "One in seven state primary schools does not have a designated library space.
• Pro Bono Economics. (2019.). "Paying the Price: The Cost of Very Poor Adult Literacy."
• ReadingZone. (2023). "Children's Reading for Pleasure in Long-Term Decline."
• UK Reads. (2023). "Illiteracy in the UK is on the rise"