To read is not my cup of tea : a study of some teenage boys attitudes to reading

This study is about fourteen-year-old boys, who are not interested in reading. It deals with what thoughts and feelings some boys have around books, reading and libraries. Further the study investigates the boys' leisure activities and their making of identities. The study is built on interviews among twelve boys in a secondary school. The result is compared to earlier reports and research. The outcome indicates that most boys feel it is boring to read. Despite this some leisure reading occurs. The boys read mainly comics and magazines in connection with their interests. Among the boys, half of them read books in their spare time to a small extent. In the first place their choices were action and adventure books. All of the boys visit the school library when they have to select something to read for the compulsory reading in school. On the contrary only half of the boys visit the public library for the purpose of meeting friends or of reading comics and magazines. All of them have a lot of hobbies and the activities they choose have masculine attributes. These activities can be connected to youth culture and their making of men. Our conception is that by giving boys male reading models and take advantage of their interests in choosing books, it is possible to increase their desire for reading. We think this is possible through a more developed co-operation between parents, school and library.Uppsatsnivå: