Carrot and app
Children no longer read. Sweden intervenes.
Many children today no longer stare at books, but at the screens of their smartphones, tablets and computers. The figures quoted in Casemovie are thought-provoking: 90 percent of all eleven-year-olds in Sweden own a smartphone, every second five-year-old has access to a tablet. And above all: nine out of ten children spend six and a half hours a day staring at screens.
Even if we had to look at and define these statistics a little more precisely, the screen consumption of many children today is certainly high enough. And it's also obvious that they don't use their devices to read e-books. But reading would be good and important. Digitalization, new media and changes in user behaviour have not changed this. As a result, more and more children are struggling with reading and writing - one of the most basic skills in our society.
The agency King from Stockholm was therefore commissioned by the NPO Ministry of Tales to develop the app "Read to Unlock" developed. The app encourages reading in a playful way. With carrots and (educationally valuable) sticks: reading is fun - and if you don't do it, the tablet remains closed for all other activities. This encourages children to read every day. On the one hand, they practise their language skills, but on the other, there is also the chance that they will discover a love of printed stories. (hae)
