Creating Voracious Readers. Screens vs Stories

In the Headmaster's end of year message to parents, Ms Elizabeth Stone raised a concern shared by parents and teachers alike; that the increasing dominance of screen time in young people’s lives, often crowds out formative experiences like time with friends, outdoor activity and, critically, sustained reading.

Drawing on the latest report from the National Literacy Trust, she noted that reading for pleasure among teenagers has reached record lows. The decline in reading habits coincides with the rise in smartphone ownership, typically around age 11. “Even if a life online were entirely wholesome,” she said, “we underestimate the harms caused by the sheer quantity of time spent on devices.”

The Headmaster talked of the far-reaching benefits of reading: from vocabulary, general knowledge, writing skills, oral skills, empathy, emotional intelligence, and the link with academic success. In a world increasingly dominated by bite-sized, 30-second content, cultivating the ability to focus deeply will, she argues, “be akin to a superpower.”

To support parents in fostering this essential habit over the holidays, she offered three simple suggestions:

1. Encourage daily reading – Aim for 20 minutes a day and possibly reading at the same time as your child.
2. Share the book through a 'family book club' – a family book club gets the whole family reading the same book and engaging with the same ideas to help stimulate lively discussions at home.
3. Feed them a proper literary diet – While children’s books are increasingly shorter and simpler, pupils are capable of engaging with more demanding and rewarding texts. 

Recommendations from Winchester College's Head of English:

Ages 13/14

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
The Trial – Franz Kafka
The Inheritors – William Golding

Ages 15+

Howards End – E.M. Forster
The Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy

All That I Am – Anna Funder
1947: When Now Begins – Elisabeth Åsbrink