A childhood without reading is Pointless

As he fronts the Summer Reading Challenge aimed at encouraging children to pick up a book over the holidays, actor and broadcaster Alexander Armstrong on why he fears falling literacy rates are creating a 'mental health crisis'

- By Sue Crawford

ALEXANDER Armstrong has never been one to mince his words. The TV presenter, actor and comedian ruffled feathers last year after attacking Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to apply VAT to private school fees and has sparked outrage after revealing his support for hunting and country sports.

And while his latest campaign — to get more children reading — isn’t likely to cause upset in many quarters, Pointless presenter Alexander is unapologetically forward in his comments. “Children aren’t reading enough these days and it seems to me that it’s leading to a real mental health crisis among them,” he declares. “There’s a really alarming drop in literacy.

“The statistics are not happy reading — one in four children doesn’t reach the expected reading age by the age of 11.

“Children with reading difficulties are at much greater risk of developing mental health problems later on in life — depression, anxiety, behavioural problems, anger and aggression. People who suffer with these things, in so many cases, haven’t read as children.

“It’s very depressing. How are you going to get by? You will always need to read and understand things and be comfortable with nuance. That all comes directly from reading —whereas if you are on a device, you are not using these faculties.”

The statistics do indeed make grim reading. But when it comes to finding a fix, the TV star points the finger directly at parents.

A study by publisher HarperCollins earlier this year found less than half of four-year-olds and under are read to regularly — a steep decline from 64% in 2012. Just as worryingly, one in five boys aged two or under are rarely, or never, read to.

Alexander, who lives with wife Hannah and their four children, Rex, 18, Patrick, 16, Edward, 15, and Henry, 10, in Oxford, believes there’s no excuse for this.