Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
News
Original poster

3 in 10 children growing up in a house with no books...

53 replies

mummytigger · 01/06/2011 21:14

...I'm sorry, but WHAT?!

This Morning on ITV reported that 3 in 10 children were growing up in a house with no books, and even mentioned an incident where the class was asked to bring in a book and one child brought in the Argos Catalogue!

I'm in absolute shock, I'll be honest with you. I could live on water and instant noodles if I had to, but just see how far you get when you take away my Terry Pratchett or my Stephen King! I'll happily read anything, any time, anywhere - even the back of the toilet roll packet! Even DS has his own books, and he hasn't even been born yet!

I realise that some parents just don't have the time to sit down and read a bedtime story, but to have no books in the house at all is a VERY serious oversight on the parents behalf, and it's going to end up being detrimental towards the childs' development.

What are MumsNet opinions on this?

OP posts:
AMumInScotland · 01/06/2011 21:21

Well, there are quite a lot of children growing up in houses without much food on the table, clothes to wear, money for heating etc, all of which are likely to be higher up the parents priority list than books. Beyond that, there are adults who either can't or don't read books themselves. So i don't think it's exactly an "oversight" - parents aren't going to wake up one morning and suddenly say "Gosh we forgot to buy any books for the children all these years!"

Chipotle · 01/06/2011 21:22

I read this in the Evening Standard yesterday. It is shocking indeed. I'm in two minds about this because I feel these children are being failed by their parents but sadly the parents feel that schools and teachers are failing them. Books are expensive and with all our libraries closing it's only going to get harder for some children. Do schools still loan books to children so that they can take them home? And how can schools 'force' encourage parents to read to their children?

PaperView · 01/06/2011 21:23

Doesn't mean that they never read - they may use libraries. In a few years it will be because of kindles/ibooks.

RitaMorgan · 01/06/2011 21:26

I'm not shocked - lots of children grow up in poverty, adults are illiterate, parents had poor experiences of education etc.

Greenstocking · 01/06/2011 21:26

I'd be interested to know how many of those three in ten children have X boxes, wii's and Ds's.

diggingintheribs · 01/06/2011 21:29

Thats why I always liked the bookstart scheme. it gave kids some books regardless of economic background.

and TBH, I know a few 'well off' families that don't have books in the house. I don't think it is purely a poverty issue

Goblinchild · 01/06/2011 21:29

You can't force parents to read with children, you can encourage them to drop in and read in happy, stress-free session, by lending books freely and enthusiastically to take home and by not fussing too much if there is a bit of a loss with those as children want to have a book of their own and keep one or two.
Being judgey about parents who are often struggling with basics, or who don't come from a background where literacy other than at a functional level is valued is not helpful or useful.
It takes a lot of time, patience and effort and an open mind if schools are to help both the children and the parents become used to the idea of books as an everyday essential rather than an unnecessary treat.

Original poster
mummytigger · 01/06/2011 21:29

@AMumInScotland - does this mean that there are no books at all in the household full-stop? Because I'm hardly well-off, but the books I've accumulated over the years have put me in good stead, and have even helped when things have gone tits-up.

And books don't need to be expensive - this is something I've always learnt. Charity shops are an absolute godsend when I'm looking for a trashy paperback to add to my collection. There are always piles of childrens books in the corner of any charity shop, so spending 20p per book is hardly going to break the bank. This is something I don't get - families had to have accumulated books over time, and if not then they are readily available in main-city libraries, school libraries and charity shops. You can even swap them with a friends' children and so they'll cost nothing. I just feel like it's so important for a child that I'd rather read to them than anything else.

OP posts:
Original poster
mummytigger · 01/06/2011 21:33

And @GreenStocking - that's exactly my point as well. XBOX's, PS3's, DS consoles - they all take pride of place nowadays because that's what kids want. But it's definitely not what they need - my brother is ten and he's the most literate boy in his class, because he reads as well as playing online games.

OP posts:
AMumInScotland · 01/06/2011 21:36

I think there are plenty of households with no books in them. Why the surprise? I agree it's a very bad thing, and efforts ought to be made to help children in that situation to value books and education. But while you may say "I'd happily live on water and instant noodles", families where that is a genuine possibility are not going to be in a position to say "books are more important". Added to which, those parents probably have generations of low expectations behind them, and didn't grow up with a love of books themselves.

Goblinchild · 01/06/2011 21:38

But you are posting from your own experience, mummytigger, so you are finding it hard to understand the 3/10 who have very different lives to yours.
Although I agree
'Charity shops are an absolute godsend when I'm looking for a trashy paperback to add to my collection. There are always piles of childrens books in the corner of any charity shop, so spending 20p per book is hardly going to break the bank. '
That's how I built up a collection of books for children to take home and enjoy, to read to parents who sometimes couldn't read them themselves. It's also how I could say 'Yes' when a child said 'I really love this book, can I borrow it again?' And again. And again. Until it was just theirs.
I used to visit friends in 'nice' areas, load up on paperbacks from their charity shops and take them back to the school I worked in.

Original poster
mummytigger · 01/06/2011 21:40

But why can't there be the option of change? I mean granted, I love books because my parents and my grandparents love books, but if someone has generations of low expectations laying before them, shouldn't it inspire them to try and do better than their predecessors? Children should want to make their parents proud of them, and if all they want to do is lay about like the last 4 generations of their family have, then some very bad values are being instilled. I feel a bit sorry for children who grow up to be illiterate because their parents never made the effort or pushed them into learning.

OP posts:
Goblinchild · 01/06/2011 21:41

I was always grateful for the dozens of families that would donate entire sets of Roald Dahl in near-mint condition. Read but not loved enough to read to bits. Trust me, my lot went through them until they were falling to bits, with food stains and chew marks from younger siblings.

TheSkiingGardener · 01/06/2011 21:44

It's very, very sad. Whatever the reason for it it isn't helping the children. If the parents had a poor experience of education then it is unfortunate that behaviours like this will perpetuate the cycle. If the parents can't be bothered then that sends a message to the children that books are unimportant when they provide so much.

A Wii doesn't have quite the same educational properties really.

Original poster
mummytigger · 01/06/2011 21:47

@Goblinchild
See I'm the same - sod paying £11.99 for a hardback, I go to the charity shop half a mile down my road and they've got pretty much everything there. Granted I may not have the best books, or the cleanest, or the newest, but I've got a book that I'm probably going to keep for years to come. And if not - i can always redonate it and make someone else happy.

And I know that there are plenty of educational games for the Wii and the DS , but it's absolutely no substitute, like @TheSkiingGardener says. I can't stand reading a book on a Kindle or iPad - and I think it's down to the smell! I love the smell of a good old book :D

OP posts:
Goblinchild · 01/06/2011 21:52

That's why I used to ship books half way across the country. Because our local charity shops hardly ever had books in them.

Goblinchild · 01/06/2011 22:02

There were a lot of fantastic and loving parents who wanted their children to have a better education and more chances than they had experienced, but didn't know how.
I've been to hundreds of homes with no books, but more love and tolerance and good parenting than wealthier places I've taught in, with children from materialistically rich but time and relationship poor families.

MumblingRagDoll · 01/06/2011 22:08

I have seen many homes with no books....homes with normal decent people in them Agree it is bloody weird.

meditrina · 01/06/2011 22:11

I'm more shocked by how high the proportion is.

Yes, I can easily see how in some households it is not the priority, and that some are in very difficult and chaotic circumstanes. But nearly a third? That is a heck of a lot. And reading is a key that unlocks so much more in life. It's a crying shame.

Goblinchild · 01/06/2011 22:14

So, any ideas out there for reducing the statistic?

MrsDaffodill · 01/06/2011 22:21

My face is very well-known in two different charity shops but I actually frequent about eight! I think I am verging on book addiction, all our library cards are always maxed out too.

1/3 is a huge stat, especially as it said 85% of homes have games consoles. So at least some of the stat is to do with prioritising gadgets over books.

chandellina · 02/06/2011 09:54

my idea to reduce is stop buying your children games consoles and restrict tv. maybe they'll get bored enough to turn to books.

MrsDaffodill · 02/06/2011 10:26

Chendellina - I think the problem is that the parents are not readers themselves and not confident with books. The same article says that 1 million Londoners are functionally illiterate. So the desire to read, and the ability to read, are going to have to come from elsewhere.

I would think things like this football event would probably have more impact:
www.brentfordfc.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10421~169386,00.html

Also maybe school libraries open before and after school, school trips to town libraries so children get to know them (if the library still exists!), books given as prizes for school sports days, etc.

SardineQueen · 02/06/2011 10:47

I actually can't believe that. How did they come up with the figure? 3 in 10 households with children with no books?

That's getting beyond the proportion of people who can't read AND don't get books for their children and into something bizarre in that they are actively throwing books out which is jut odd.

The ways books come in, even if you don't but them yourself
Bookstart
Presents (books are standard gifts for babies and children)
Religion
Um

So people would have to be getting books and actively destroying them or chucking them out. To the tune of 3 in every 10 families?

I don't believe it.

SardineQueen · 02/06/2011 10:49

Would love to see how they came up with that figure, I really would.

Even the houses I know which don't seem to have any adult books (the immaculately tidy people who see books as clutter) have some in the children's rooms.