Young people read for fun less and become less involved in cultural activities such as music, drama, and dance as they prepare for the Leaving Certificate, new research suggests.
Less than one in six (14 per cent) young people read for fun throughout the week, with listening to music and surfing the internet the most common cultural activities.
The proportion of students who never read for fun also increases with age, from 19 per cent among 13-year-olds to 53 per cent amongst 17-year-olds.
While young women are more likely to read for fun, to make music, and to take part in ‘structured cultural activities’, young men are more likely to spend time playing computer games.
Young people from more advantaged families are also more likely to read, make music, and participate in structured cultural activities.
As these activities contribute to how well young people do at school, unequal participation in arts and culture is likely to contribute to educational inequalities, the study says.
However, schools serving more disadvantaged communities are just as likely as non-Deis schools to provide extracurricular cultural activities, which helps to reduce the gap in cultural participation.
Carried out by the ESRI and funded by the Arts Council, the findings relate to before Covid-19.
“Young people were already becoming less involved in the arts as they grew older,” said Emer Smyth, ESRI, the lead author of the study.
“There is a real risk that school closures earlier in the year will have accelerated this decline, especially for more disadvantaged groups.”
Extracurricular activities cannot be forgotten as schools grapple with the challenges of providing a safe learning environment, she said.
