Regular readers of Write Away will know that I have misgivings on a number of counts about the discourse of failure that is used to talk about boys and reading. Of course it's right  to be concerned when any potential reader fails to be switched onto books and reading,  and we should certainly examine and reflect upon possible reasons. However, soundbite messages do not address the complexity of the issues. For instance, what  impact does the constant bombardment of the 'boys don't read message' have on boys who do read? What about boys who can read but choose not to because they are engaged in other worthwhile activities? What about non-reading boys who loathe football?  What about boys who avariciously devour online reading material but never pick up a book?  What about  the imapct of deprivation on reading behaviour? Furthermore, doesn't  the overwhelming interest in boys 'who don't read' deflect attention  from 'girls who don't read'?

A new survey from The National Literacy Trust  confirms  that non-reading girls are beneath the radar of  recent policy drives.  While schools and libraries traditionally focus on getting boys reading, it is clear that girls would also benefit from being encouraged to read for pleasure. Out of just over 1600  pupils who took part, 201 girls defined themselves as non-readers, compared to 626 girls who considered themselves readers, almost 25% of the  female sample.

Developing readers should be less concerned with a deficit  model  which targets failing groups and then treats those groups as an homogenous set of non-readers with a single 'remedy. ' Good reading teachers attest to the importance of getting to know readers  as individuals with unique interests and reading preferences. And  to  the rewards of being genuinely interested in what children read,  as well as sharing something of our reading selves with them.

Read the full report

For an interesting account of boys' personal reading histories see Hilary Minns   Read It To Me Now

And for inspirational reflections about what makes a reader see Daniel Pennac  The Rights of the Reader

The statistics show that these non-readers can and do read but do not want to be seen as readers because they and their peers tend to have negative perceptions of readers.

•  60% of girl non-readers state that they find reading boring
•  Readers are seen to be intelligent people by almost 50% of girl non-readers
• However a large proportion also think that readers are geeky/nerds, who have few friends and do not go out much
• 33% of girl non-readers said that they did not read outside school more than once or twice a month,
• 79% of them read magazines
• nearly 60% visit blogs and networking sites
• 54% read emails more than once a month outside school.

Simply put, girl non-readers do read outside the educational environment but do not consider themselves to be readers because:

• 57% believe that readers concentrate on fiction
• 47% think that readers also read factual books and poetry These are all materials that girl non-readers feel adults in their school encourage them to read (fiction 77% and poetry 61% respectively) but which are not necessarily popular with this group.

Various schemes have been put in place to increase the numbers of boys reading and all practitioners are fully aware of the need to work with the male reluctant reader to encourage them to read more. For these girls however, the answer may lie in supporting them to continue reading what they enjoy and promoting a wide variety of materials to them.