New Survey: Only 17 Percent of Parents Believe Reading is
Top Priority During the Summer; Kids Spend Nearly Triple the Time Playing
Video Games or Watching TV
Macy’s and Reading Is Fundamental Launch Be Book Smart
Campaign June 18 to Support Children’s Literacy
WASHINGTON – (June 18, 2014) – Despite research that
indicates the importance of summer reading in preventing children from losing
literacy skills, only 17 percent of parents say reading is a top summer
priority, according to a new survey from Reading Is
Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s. The survey, conducted by Harris Poll, also finds
that children spend nearly three times as many hours weekly watching TV or playing
video games as they do reading in the summer. More than 1,000 parents with
children ages 5-11 completed the survey online in April.
Results of the survey are made public as Macy’s and RIF
launch the 11th annual Be Book Smart campaign to support children’s literacy.
Be Book Smart begins June 18, and invites customers nationwide to give $3 at
any Macy’s register in-store, to help provide a book for a child and get $10
off a purchase of $30 or more. Macy’s will donate 100 percent of every $3 to
RIF. The campaign ends July 13.
“Many families think of reading as eating your
vegetables—good for you but not necessarily a treat. Reading is the best
vacation. It takes you places you never dreamed you would visit, and summer
especially is a time when kids can immerse themselves in the topics they like
best,” said Carol H. Rasco, CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. “Thanks to our
partnership with Macy’s, we are bringing more books to children who need them
most and starting them on a journey to a lifelong love of reading.”
More than 60 percent of parents in the survey said they do
not believe their child loses reading skills over the summer. However, existing
research shows that summer learning loss is a major problem, particularly for
low-income children who can lose up to three months of reading skills because
of limited access to books and learning opportunities while out of school. The
key to helping children maintain and even improve their literacy skills over
the summer is providing access to quality books that they can choose based on
personal interests.
Full survey results are highlighted in an executive summary
by Harris Poll. Key findings include:
• On average, parents say their child spends 17.4 hours/week
watching TV or playing video games, 16.7 hours/week playing outside and only
5.9 hours/week reading.
• Parents who consider reading to be extremely or very
important are twice as likely to have a child who reads every day.
• Children who were involved in a reading program last
summer were up to two times more likely to read every day. Yet, over half of
parents said their child did not participate in a reading program at all last
summer.
• Last summer, children who read because they wanted to were
twice as likely to read than children who read because they had to.
• Despite the proliferation of e-books and digital formats,
83 percent of parents said their child preferred print books for summer
reading, compared to 7 percent preferring tablets and 4 percent preferring
e-readers
