Literacy outside of School

• It is thought that parents spend less time reading to boys. As well, when boys are read to it is usually by their mother.
• Why may boys be negatively affected if they're only ever read to by their mother?

  This causes young boys to see reading as feminine, and they may be discouraged from doing so in their own free time.
• Many leisure activities that boys participate in outside of school do not provide opportunities to develop their literacy skills. For instance, they're more likely to play football.

  In comparison, girls have a 'bedroom culture' where they chat with their friends, read magazines together or discuss the novels they are reading online. These activities help young girls to develop their literacy and language skills.
• Critics argue it is wrong to consider boys a lost cause because of their lower literacy rates, their achievement has increased in recent years, just not as much as girls.
• Various policies have been put in place to try to tackle the issue of low literacy levels amongst boys. For example, the National Literacy Strategy included a specific focus on this.
• Covid may have worsened the gap between girls and boys in terms of literacy levels as no one was really 'forcing' students to do work. Girls were much more likely to read during this free time.