 News
18th February 2007
TV is killing off the bedtime story
Almost half of UK kids watch TV or listen to music rather than enjoying
a story before bed, according to a study for Silentnight Beds.
The research has revealed the shocking truth behind the decline of the
British bedtime story with 33 per cent of parents admitting to feelings
of guilt for not reading aloud with the main excuses being too tired or
lack of time due to work commitments.
The study also found that 47 per cent of children will grow up having
never heard a bedtime story, despite the fact that 97 per cent of parents
agree that reading before bedtime is beneficial to a child's development.
Children in the south are most likely to miss out with 56 per cent of
southern parents admitting their children either watch TV or listen to
music before bed, compared with 32 per cent of parents in Scotland.
Perhaps as a result, parents in England and Wales feel most
guilty for missing bedtime stories while only 20 per cent of parents in
Scotland admitted to feeling bad.
Dads are also missing out with only 13 per cent regularly
reading to their children, compared to 46 per cent of mums.
Child Psychologist, Dr Pat Spungin said, "The benefits of
bedtime reading from an early age are evident with 38 per cent of children
going on to read for themselves before bed - this is a healthy routine
to get in to as it will improve their creativity, reading and writing
skills, not to mention help them to relax and sleep better."
Silentnight conducted the survey to launch their national
competition 'Book At Bedtime' - a bid to find a budding young author to
pen a new bedtime story, in association with top publisher Puffin and
award-winning children's author Jeremy Strong.
The search will run across the country from February 2007
with the winner being announced at the grand final at Waterstone's Piccadilly
on August 7th, during Silentnight's 'National Love Your Bed Week'.
Entrants can be aged seven to 12 years and full entry information
and tips can be found at www.silentnight.co.uk/bookatbedtime.
Jeremy Strong says, "I think it is important for parents
to read to their children and for children's minds and imaginations to
be nurtured daily. Hopefully by encouraging kids to put pen to paper we
will bring out their natural creativity and also steer children away from
computer games and television and towards the bedtime story".
Steven Simpson from Silentnight adds, "Bedtime should be
an enjoyable experience for people of all ages - for children, its important
that they associate their beds with a positive experience from an early
age - reading a story and spending some quality time with your children
is the perfect way to do this."
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