NEW DATA FROM THE SCHOLASTIC KIDS & FAMILY READING REPORT™: 8TH EDITION STRENGTHENS EVIDENCE FOR POSITIVE CONNECTION BETWEEN MENTAL HEALTH OF KIDS AND LITERACY
NEW YORK, June 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children's publishing, education and media company, today released new data points from the Kids & Family Reading Report™: 8th Edition, highlighting parents' and kids' views on the lasting impacts of the pandemic on children's mental health, as well as the positive benefits strong literacy habits have on a child's mental wellbeing.
To learn more about the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, visit: www.scholastic.com/readingreport.
Linda C. Mayes, MD, Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology, Director of the Yale Child Study Center, and a steering committee member for the Yale Child Study Center-Scholastic Collaborative for Child & Family Resilience, expanded on the research making deeper connections for how families and educators can foster mental health through reading in an op-ed published in Psychology Today.
"Reading increases a child's capacity for critical thinking, develops empathy skills, gives them the support they need during challenging times, and builds much needed resilience promoting skills which can help protect against various mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety," said Dr. Mayes. "To put it clearly, literacy is not just an educational intervention but is an investment in a child's health for the long-haul."
Amanda Alexander, PhD, Chief Academic Officer, Scholastic Education Solutions shared, "Our mission at Scholastic has always been to connect children with the books that will not only support academic growth, but personal growth as well. Our partnership with the Yale Child Study Center has strengthened our understanding of how literacy and mental wellness intersect. The data from the new edition of the Kids & Family Reading Report show just how powerful the impact can be for children to support their discovery of engaging stories and lifelong reading habits."
Key findings from the research conducted in December 2022 of more than 1,000 pairs of parents and their children include:
Parents express concern about the impact of the pandemic on their children's mental health.
These negative impacts on children's mental health may be persisting.
Reading frequency is related to teens' emotional experiences.
When asked to describe the changes they've observed in their child's mental health, parents are most likely to mention their child feeling socially isolated or lonely. Others mention their child being shy or withdrawn, more anxious or worried, and sad or depressed.
The Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report is a nationally representative survey sharing the views of both kids and their parents on reading books for fun and the influences that impact kids' reading frequency and attitudes toward reading. This 8th Edition survey was conducted by Fluent Research between December 13, 2022 and January 6, 2023, with a total sample size of 1,724 parents and children including 637 parents with children ages 0–5, 1,087 parents with children ages 6–17, plus one child ages 6–17 from the same household. Parents of children ages 6–17 completed their survey questions first before passing the survey on to one randomly selected child in the target age range. The survey sample was sourced and recruited by Ipsos using their nationally representative KnowledgePanel®.
For more information about Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), visit the Company's media room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.
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SOURCE Scholastic Inc
