BookTrust: Welsh Parents too hooked on screen time to read with kids

WELSH PARENTS TOO HOOKED ON SCREEN TIME TO READ WITH KIDS

_Alex Jones School children reading books _

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Welsh parents admit to scrolling on social and tuning into telly
rather than reading with kids

Tired mums and Dads skip stories to snooze instead

Alex Jones, Dermot O’Leary and other famous faces support
BookTrust’s National Time to Read challenge

19th September 2017 – A new survey released today by BookTrust [2],
the UK’s largest children’s reading charity finds that Welsh mums and
dads are spending over four times the amount of time (over 1.5 hours)
engaging in screen time each day than they are reading with their
children (19 mins).

The poll studied 2,000 parents of 4-11 year olds revealing that
nearly half of parents in Wales confess to either frequently skipping
pages when reading with children, finishing reading the story before
the end or refusing to read a second story. Of those who admit to
skipping pages, over half (53%) did so because they were too tired

To help families find the time to read together this Autumn,
BookTrust, alongside Welsh presenters Alex Jones and Lucy Owen and a
host of other famous faces such as Dermot O’Leary and Mel Giedroyc are
calling on parents and carers across the country to take part in the
charity’s National Time to Read challenge (18-22 September) [3] to
free up ten minutes a day to share a story. Families can get involved
on social media #TimetoRead or #AmseriDdarllen and share their swaps
with the nation.

Supporting the campaign, TV personality Alex Jones said “Becoming a
parent can be pretty daunting and comes with a never-ending to do list
but reading with your little ones needn’t be a chore. Reading together
is so much fun and helps us cement that bond. It doesn’t have to be
regimented either, you can read anytime, anything and anywhere. I’m
supporting BookTrust’s National Time to Read challenge by turning off
my email notifications for an hour a day and spending some of that
time with a quality book!”

Helen Wales Head of BookTrust Cymru said: “Regular reading helps
imaginations to grow in the most fun and exciting way. Our survey
reveals that over a third (37%) of children enjoy comics and
magazines, proving that it’s not just books that get them turning
pages, you really can read anything, anytime, anywhere. We hope
families across the country will join us in finding ten minutes to
read together – it really is all it takes to make a difference.”

To find out more about BookTrust’s National Time to Read Challenge
visit: www.booktrust.org.uk/TimetoRead [4]