Children shun books

A new survey appears to confirm what many will feel they already knew - children prefer TV and computer games to reading, reports The Guardian.

The survey conducted earlier this month by Nestlé Box Tops for Books, which asked parents about their children's reading habits, found that half of UK children spend less than two hours reading per week. A further one in 10 had not read a book in the past month, and of those who do read regularly, one in four avoid non-fiction titles. More than half of the parents surveyed believed their children should read more non-fiction books.