Peter Moore: Are our children becoming illiterate?

Has text messaging taken over from the English of Shakespeare, Dickens and even Jilly Cooper?

A teacher recently who told me that in an English essay some teenagers write B4 and ‘cos although they probably do not put the apostrophe in ‘cos.  He had to point out that the word is “before” and that ‘cos is not a word. It is “because”.

Language is always changing. We do not sound like Chaucer, Shakespeare or Dickens, but is the “texticisation” of written English a sign of a deeper problem. I apologise for the word “texticasation” which I have just invented. I don’t think it will make it into next year’s Oxford English Dictionary. 

In a world of Tic Tok and YouTube are people losing the ability to concentrate for any length of time? Although the recent GCSE results were excellent for many students there were also some worrying signs underneath the statistics. The pass rate for GCSE English has fallen to 54.2% (grade 5 or above). The number of boys studying A level English has halved since 2009 falling from 27,000 boys to 12,000.  From being one of the most popular A levels it is now fifth below maths, psychology, biology and chemistry. I do not want to be accused of being a hypocrite having studied A level biology and chemistry and not English. The three sciences were necessary for medical school. I confess that my wife did study A level English and achieved better A level grades than me. It must have been easier.

Is the reduction in GCSE English passes and, in the number, studying it to A level a reflection of problems much earlier in childhood? According to the National Literacy Trust in 2025 only a third of children between eight to eighteen enjoy reading in their free time. For boys it is even worse where only a quarter enjoy reading.  

The problem is that to really get into a book takes time. Well written books spend time building up the characters before developing the storyline. A good play may seem “boring” as the plot develops. 

The short attention span is also a problem for classical music. If everything is in short clips on Tic Toc no one can to sit through a whole symphony or opera. The current generation do not listen to a whole album in the same way as their middle aged parents did in their youth. 

Can we encourage teenagers to read if we offer a book they enjoy? My English teacher was keen for us all to enjoy reading even if the book was somewhat short of literary merit to put it politely. I read almost every James Bond book as they came out. 

My book in O level English language was Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice”.  As a teenage boy I did not care whether Elizabeth was in love with Darcy. I was interested in history. At the time of the Napoleonic wars why should I care about these insular people? I now understand that marriage was vitally important to the women of the early nineteenth century. 

I did have the advantage of having Henry Vth as the Shakespeare which I had on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. It was full of battles and bloodshed, although not as gory as some modern video games. I also studied modern poetry, including Dylan Thomas. This reminded me of the lyrics of Bob Dylan, one of my heroes. He even named himself after Dylan Thomas. 

How can we help teenagers today enjoy reading? One in ten households do not possess a single book which rises to 12.4% of children on free school meals. The rise in the cost of living has meant that buying books is more expensive. Less than a third of people use their local library. 

The escapism of the shorts on Tic Toc and YouTube will not go away but can we balance the instant gratification with longer and more subtle escapism from a book?

The good news is that if you have managed to get this far you must have staying power. Congratulations, your attention span is excellent.