Blogging could be the write move for children

Published on Wednesday 2 December 2009 21:51

SOCIAL networking websites could be doing more good than harm to children, by improving their attitude to writing, research suggests.

A National Literacy Trust study, published yesterday, said that though 49 per cent of all children interviewed said writing was "boring", those who spent time blogging enjoyed writing more, with 57 per cent saying they liked writing, compared with only 40 per cent of those who do not have a blog.

The study, which questioned 3,001 pupils in England and Scotland aged nine to 16 via an online survey, examined how much young people enjoyed writing, what types of writing they tended to do and how good they thought they were at it.

The study revealed that pupils who write online are more likely to write short stories, letters, song lyrics or a diary.

Three-quarters of those questioned said they wrote regularly, with 56 per cent of youngsters saying they had a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or Bebo, while 24 per cent said they had their own blog.

Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, said: "The digital age often gets a bad press but the findings of this report demonstrate that social networking sites and blogs are linked to young people's more positive attitudes to writing."