TheJournal.ie uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Click here to find out more »
Dublin: 11 °C Monday 20 May, 2013

Half of Irish parents feel guilty for skipping bedtime stories

One in five Irish parents never read to their children.

A SURVEY COMMISSIONED by Easons has revealed that half of parents of children under eight in Ireland feel guilty for not having time to read with their children.

One in five parents never read to their children according to research carried out by Amárach Research in advance of the launch of Easons’ ‘Get into Reading’ campaign.

One third of parents say time pressure is the main reason they don’t sit down with a book with their child more often, while almost half say they pass the responsibility onto their partners.

Child psychotherapist Dr. John Sharry said that the findings of the research highlight the importance of building a bedtime story into the daily routine.

Eighty-four per cent of Irish people say they were encouraged to read by their parents, while almost 70 per cent were read to as a child.

A quarter of Irish people say they read five or more hours a week, with those who were read to as a child 30 per cent more likely to commit to this amount of time with the books.

Easons are planning to  hold weekly in-store reading events for children and parents throughout the year every Saturday.

No Irish need apply: Man Booker long list revealed>

Column: Why I want to give a book to every child born in Ireland>

Read next:

Comments (33 Comments)

  • That’s one of the saddest stories I have read in ages! Maybe give fair city or x factor a miss and sit down with the child for five minutes.

    Reply
  • It takes all of five minutes to read a child a story. There’s no excuse.

    Reply
  • Takes 5 minutes. And kids love it!!!!

    Reply
  • paul 27/07/12 #

    how could you even make an excuse. lazy me feiners.

    Reply
    • The sad thing is they are missing out on spending quality bonding time with their children that they will never get back just so they can watch eastenders etc. it has major literacy benefits for children but even greater benefits for the parent child relationship

      Reply
    • Missing out on quality time really?

      I love going out kicking a ball on the green with the kids, playing games, baking, and so on. When Im out on the green with the kids I’m usually the only parent out there, I rarely see a parent and child playing out on the green. Once in awhile I might spot a parent and child cycling together but never ever see parents playing with their kids outdoors. This is just as important.

      Getting kids into physical activities something they can share for years and years. also keeps the child fit and healthy. Yet hardly anyone goes out with their kids. I for one took my 12 year old to do the flora mini marathon, we do kick boxing together and go walking in evenings. This is all great bonding between mother and daughter.

      Reading a bed time story is not the be all and end all of spending quality time together. Other people do it in different ways something that suits their personality, lifestyle and work commitments.

      Reply
  • That’s just pure bone-idle laziness.
    No excuses.

    Reply
  • Are parents who are illiterate included here? They can hardly be expected to read to their children, and there are quite a lot of them around.

    Reply
  • I read a bedtime story to my 2 year old daughter every night I’m home for bedtime. Unfortunately because I work a number of late nights each week I miss out on those nights. So which am I? Bone idle or neglectful?

    Reply
  • bobbyman 27/07/12 #

    Maybe some of these parents should have read a book before they had children. Oh that’s probably not very politically correct of me.

    Reply
  • The tone of many of the comments on this item are in my view uncharitably judgemental.
    Relationships between parents and children are a rich tapestry and just because some assign significant importance to bed time stories doesn’t mean others who don’t should be made feel negligent or lazy.

    I don’t remember my parents reading to me as a child, I’m an avid reader now and guess what, I don’t think they were lazy or terrible parents.

    Please dismount from the elevated equines.

    Reply
  • I wasn’t read to as a child infact I hated books. I took to reading at 15, now I devour books, I could read 3 or 4 books a week.

    I don’t think I missed out because no one read the 3 little pigs to me…

    My kids have over 200 books on their bookcase and the one in the living room, they pick up a book when they feel like it, be that 9am in the morning or 9 am at night. if they want me to read it to them I will, if they want to read it by themselves they will.

    Reply
  • Easons and a survey suggesting that people should buy more books … there some sort of link there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it …

    Reply
  • I’m bone-idle lazy when I comes to reading bedtime stories to my kids, thankfully my wife does it! :)

    Reply

Add New Comment