Study shows boys and books don't mix

Boys think reading books is for girls, but that reading for information, such as a TV guide, is a useful, masculine activity, a new study shows.

The study of Year 7 boys sheds some light on why it's so hard to get boys to read.

Teacher Sheryl Wright interviewed boys individually and in groups for post-graduate research and found they thought reading for enjoyment and reading for information were separate activities. Reading for enjoyment was "real" reading and something girls did, whereas reading to get information was useful and masculine.

"They could see reading as something that they would need to do to get ahead in a job," Wright says. "But they didn't imagine they'd ever enjoy it; rather it would always be something they made themselves do."

The research also found opinions changed when they weren't surrounded by their peers. "The minute I got them into the group they started the subtle put-downs," she said.

"It was all 'that's a girl's book' or 'you're a girl', whereas while they were talking one-on-one they were happy to say they read books."

Wright said of the boys who did see their dads read, only one saw him reading a novel.

But they all had mothers and sisters who read, reinforcing the impression reading was a passive, girls' activity.

"They had this idea that as a boy they were out there doing stuff and that's why they didn't sit down and read like girls do. But when you asked what they did instead it involved sitting down. Watching TV was a favourite."

Wright said an effective way to encourage boys to read was to lead by example.

Having a male in the house reading for pleasure was "incredibly powerful for boys", she said.

"When my class does silent reading I read at the same time because it shows them I value it as an activity."

Finding a genre they enjoyed also helped. "That's where Harry Potter and books like that have been fantastic," Wright said.

Once boys tapped into a series they were comfortable with, they're away.

"You find with boys, if you can get them into a series, you've got them for six to eight books."

- © Fairfax NZ News