12 year old dd reads for pleasure for on average an hour at. Aibu to think this is the norm?

[Cheezepizza]

BTW this is not a boasting post. I know more kids will read much more, I'm just asking out of curiosity as I would like her reading more now that winter is coming in.

Very much depends. My DS same age does a bit more. A combination of news and books. But it will vary hugely from child to child I think and I do notice that now he’s got a phone he reads less than he used to. We used to have to tell him to stop reading (when he should be doing something else) but being strict in screen time and having books literally all round the house means he’s back on track. An hour is fine. DS’s
school recommends minimum 20 mins a day so she’s fine.

My DS x 2 used to read more when younger. They are early and mid secondary school ages now. They don’t read alone at all (unless you count online context !) so we read with them most days. The older one now enjoys books that we would also choose to read so it’s nice to read together. Generally no more than one chapter each evening and not at all on some days.

It depends whether they enjoy reading, of course! It would have been the norm for me because I loved reading from a young age; not all my friends did and engaged in other activities instead.

Think it’s good to have a balance of activities. Reading is a useful skill in itself and (depending on material) may increase capacity for empathy, general knowledge etc. But…. It is a sedentary and solitary activity. While your daughter is reading, she’s not exercising, developing her social skills, learning other important life skills (such as the pleasure in planning and cooking nutritious meals), or contributing anything to the running of the household.

Reading, like any other activity, is subject to the law of diminishing marginal utility and should not crowd out other activities and responsibilities.

Probably close to average if you are judging by the standards of days gone by, but in modern times more than average because there are pleasures which take less effort. Time spent reading has morphed into time spent scrolling.

As a girl, I used to read with a torch under the covers at night. I think that was maybe too much, verging on obsessive. DD's one hour a day sounds like an adequate sufficiency to me.

🤣🤣 same. Mine will also read the price of the latest rubbish she wants to order online.

Definitely not enough. It should be at least one book a day, however long it takes. Also she should be writing one book a week. Ideally she needs to be going to the theatre once a month especially since it's winter.

My dyslexic DS has probably never read a book for longer that 2 minutes at a time so that's our normal. I would love for him to read an hour a day but never going to happen.

Is it? When I was that age I literally read from bedtime around 730/8 until midnight and tried to carry on with a reading torch under the covers. That isn't normal. But an hour a night?

My daughter loves reading, like me. My son hates reading with a passion

My days were spent doing physical stuff like climbing trees and swimming in the sea or reading. What’s she reading is more to the point. I loved classic literature, biographies and history books. I remember reading the biography of Bernard Spilsbury at that age and a great book called Women of Glory all about women who did heroic acts.

Only an hour? I read Stephen King’s The Stand when I was 12. I’d still be reading it now if I only did an hour 😂

I used to have a stack of books and would read a chapter at a time of each book. I would literally read all day at the weekends.

If its for pleasure it should be her choice full stop. She can read. That's the minimum. Enjoying or not enjoying reading isn't special.

I don’t understand why you would think something is average and then ask for opinions. Some young people read. Others skate, dance, sing, play an instrument or play a sport. Others do jigsaws, craft, spend time with friends or do club activities. Is one activity better than another? No.

If all she does is read then maybe she would benefit from other interests too.

DD ( 11) reads for 7 hours a day, but only scientific journals. So irritating but she just can’t seem to get into fiction at all, other than Dickens, but obvs she’s run out of Dickens as he’s not written anything new recently.

Its good your daughter enjoys reading and an hour is enough no matter what time of the year.

But if she gets pleasure out of it, let her go at her own pace. Encourage her by all means, by getting her books (library, 2nd hand, new or digital) but don't make it a chore.

As a young teenager I read a book a day. I would start reading and if the story absorbed me, I would not lift my head until I finished.

I was reading for up to 3 or 4 hours at a time and longer at weekends at 12 upwards but that was because I loved reading. None of my offspring are into books or reading books at all, but they used to read when younger. At middle age I'm still an avid reader.

Depends on what their interests are if a child's interests are reading then yes. The same with adults some read for pleasure some don't. Everyone has different interests and hobbies surely you understand this

DS codes for around 12 hours a day, but really doesn’t read much. Too busy, obsessed almost, with building ‘the Matrix’, whatever that is, and proving the world we think is real is actually a simulation.
Honestly, kids. is that average for a 15 year old? Not boasting! Just interested .

I’m surprised you’ve set the bar so low, given that it is winter.

I read a book reguarly at nighttime when I got ready for bed, I'd get in with a book. It relaxed me then at her age, and it still does now, although I've switched to audible.

I don't get the correlation between winter and reading? Kids who like reading will do it regardless of the season. Kids who don't like it, won't....

FFS the sarky replies on this thread 🙄 Is there a full moon?!

My daughter is 16 and read for pleasure when she was about 11 she also loved to draw and write short stories. Unfortunately her phone and hanging out with friends has taken over. I'm hoping one day she'll take it up again.

My son is 13 and never reads. His teacher in primary said he's a few years ahead in reading age, this made no difference whatsoever 😆

I'm a keen reader but seem to have lost my concentration in the last 2 years.

There is so much pleasure in reading, I know what my dc are missing out on..

I'm wondering if I can bribe them to come to the library during school holidays!

My 12 yr Dd will read for hours. She confessed she stayed up til 4am one night to read. I told her off for that but I was secretly pleased.
I'm bribing my teen ds to read a book this half term.

Lots of jealous parents on this thread wondering why their kid doesn't read

Yours doesn't read because they're on screens, phones/ipad/tv/gaming whatever that is the reason, try restricting it a little and they probably would - they'd probably be happier as well!

Talk about bitter