Fewer American children are reading for pleasure than they have in the past, according to a new report from Common Sense Media.
The research revealed that the number of nine-year-old kids that read for pleasure once or more per week went from 81 percent in 1984 to 76 percent in 2013. The numbers are worse for older kids. Only about a third of 13-year-olds reported reading for pleasure less than twice a year.
Children who do indulge in reading for pleasure tended to be those kids whose parents read to them and whose parents read themselves. Those kids who are read to spend about 30-60 minutes a day reading.