Danish children only have time for textbooks—and Harry

The first survey of teenage reading habits undertaken in Denmark has found that the country's youth are too busy to read anything but textbooks. The results of the survey were announced by Torben Weinreich, head of the Centre for Children's Literature at the Danish University of Education, this week.

The centre's survey found that many 14 and 15-year-olds would like to read more, but socialising, computers, TV and mobile phones were more of a priority. On average, the 14 and 15-year-old boys who responded to the survey read 1.3 books a month, while the girls read 1.8 books a month. But Mr Weinreich said the children did have "a bad conscience about not reading more books."

The report concluded that the older the child, the less they read. While almost half nine-year-olds said that they read books of their own choice every day, only 10% of 15-year-olds open a book not connected with school.

Harry Potter topped the list of books read by both girls and boys in the 14 to 15 age range, but modern classic Danish authors, such as Hans Scherfig and Svend Åge Madsen, also ranked high.

Mr Weinreich said that youngsters read books recommended by teachers, and he advised schools to drop standard literature and look instead at the books the youngsters themselves choose to read.

"Schools tend to focus on the classics and on books dealing with social problems such as drugs or AIDS. When they choose books to read for pleasure, boys go for thrills and horror, while girls look for romance. It's not all rubbish."