How to Encourage Your Teenager to Read: 5 Mistakes Parents Make

muchadoaboutlearni
2 days ago
6 min read

If you're wondering how to encourage your teenager to read this summer, read on. Many parents worry that once school finishes, reading disappears too. The good news is that building a reading habit is often less about pressure and more about creating the right environment.

Teenager enjoying a book in a café with a calm golden retriever sitting quietly beside them. — A great book can be the start of a lifelong reading habit.

Having a child who reads is a bit like having a dog that sits quietly beside your chair in a café while you munch on a croissant. It gives parents a wonderfully smug sense of satisfaction that they've managed something many other people struggle with.

If you're the parent of a teenager who reads, I'd genuinely love to know how you did it. (And if you're the owner of a dog who sits quietly in a café, I'd love to hear your secret there too...)

In my experience, most teenagers who read regularly developed the habit when they were much younger. However, I've also seen plenty of students who absolutely despised reading in Key Stage 3 suddenly discover books in Years 10 and 11.

More often than not, the difference comes down to the environment at home.

As students begin GCSEs, reading for pleasure in school often becomes less visible. Library visits are less common and the focus naturally shifts towards GCSE content. Ironically, that reduction in pressure can sometimes be exactly what reluctant readers need. When reading stops feeling like another school task, it has a chance to become something they choose to do for themselves.

So, if you'd like to encourage your teenager to read more this summer, here are five mistakes I see well-meaning parents make, and what to do instead.

1. Buying your child a book

Imagine walking into your favourite restaurant only to discover someone else has already ordered your meal. It might be absolutely delicious, but somehow it wouldn't taste quite as good. Why? Because you've missed the anticipation.

Choosing a book works in exactly the same way.

We sample the book through the cover. We read the blurb. We wonder where the story might go. Before we've even reached page one, our brain is already imagining, predicting and becoming curious. We've had a taste and this is what makes us want to keep reading.

When somebody else chooses the book for us, we've skipped one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole experience.

Instead...

Take your child to a bookshop.

Let them wander. Let them pick books up, read the blurbs and put them back again. Let them browse without pressure, time constraints or expectation. Something will eventually catch their attention. If it doesn't, that's absolutely fine. Try again another day. Browsing is part of becoming a reader.

2. Book Shopping on Amazon

Amazon is brilliant if your child already knows which book they want. It's quick, convenient and often cheaper.

But it misses something.

There's a real excitement in wandering around a bookshop, finally choosing a book, carrying it home and opening it for the first time. It's an experience, not just a purchase. Even if your child chooses a book on Amazon, by the time it arrives a day or two later, that initial excitement may already have faded.

Instead...

Visit Waterstones, an independent bookshop if you're lucky enough to have one nearby, or even a charity shop. Make choosing the book part of the pleasure.

3. Judging your child's choice

Yes, it can be a little disappointing when your teenager picks up Diary of a Wimpy Kid for the ninety-ninth time. You might wonder how they'll ever achieve a Grade 9 in English if that's all they read.

But reading has to be about enjoyment first.

Think about the things we stick with in life. We usually enjoy them. You don't want your child to read because they're exercising incredible self-discipline. You want them to read because they've reached a brilliant part of the story and they're desperate to know what happens next. That's how reading becomes a habit.

Instead...

Resist the temptation to judge. If they want to reread Harry Potter, encourage it.

If they revisit books they loved when they were younger, that's brilliant. Familiar stories can be the perfect route back into reading because they're easy, comforting and enjoyable.

Build the habit first. The variety will come later.

4. Thinking reading only counts if it's a novel

Reading doesn't have to come between two covers.

Some teenagers simply aren't interested in fiction, and that's absolutely fine.

Reading a thoughtful article about Formula 1, wildlife conservation, football tactics, artificial intelligence or the latest scientific discovery is still reading.

In fact, it's fantastic preparation for GCSE English.

Students sitting English Language Paper 2 need to understand viewpoints, arguments and different styles of writing. The more varied the texts they encounter, the more confident they become.

Instead...

Help your child find things they're genuinely interested in reading.

Biographies.

Magazine articles.

Long-form journalism.

Opinion pieces.

Reviews.

History.

Science.

Nature.

Whatever sparks their curiosity. And yes, it absolutely counts if they're reading it on their phone.

5. Making reading into work

For years I'd been telling myself I should start strength training. I knew it was important but I just didn't want to. It would be hard. I'd have to go to the gym. It'd be expensive. I didn't have time. So I kept putting it off.

Then I found a programme that was only thirty minutes long, including the warm-up and cool-down. It was online. I didn't need anything I didn't already have... Well, suddenly it felt manageable.

Now I do four sessions a week without really thinking about it. It's become part of my routine.

Reading works in exactly the same way. If it becomes another scheduled chore, "Right, it's six o'clock. Time to read.", it's very easy for it to feel like homework.

Habits aren't built by heroic effort. They're built by making something enjoyable enough that you keep coming back to it.

Instead...

Make reading part of everyday family life.

Turn off the television. Put your phone down. Pick up your own book.

Talk about something interesting you've read, whether that's a novel, a newspaper article or a fascinating story online.

Ask your teenager what they've read recently. Not to test them but because you're genuinely interested. It doesn't really matter what they've been reading.

If they've read something that made them think, laugh, know or question something, then they're already doing exactly what good readers do. The idea here is to get across the message that they are already a reader. That all adults are readers - it's an important part of life.

One book I'd recommend

Parents often ask me which fiction book I'd recommend for a teenager who isn't naturally a reader.

If I could choose just one, it would be The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.

Set in Oklahoma in the 1960s, it's a story about friendship, loyalty, identity and belonging, subjects that matter just as much to teenagers today as they did sixty years ago.

It's fast-paced, gritty, emotional and genuinely unforgettable.

Less confident readers are drawn in by the story, while stronger readers can explore its deeper themes of class, prejudice and identity. It's one of those rare novels that works just as well for students aiming for a Grade 5 as it does for those chasing a Grade 9.

And a final thought...

The strongest GCSE English students I've taught over the past twenty years all have one thing in common: they're curious.

Reading - reading anything - is one of the very best ways to nurture that curiosity.

About the Author

Suzy Mersereau is is a GCSE English teacher, Senior GCSE English Examiner and the founder of Much Ado About Learning.

With more than 22 years' teaching experience, she specialises in helping capable students who feel stuck unlock the skills behind the highest GCSE English grades. Rather than simply teaching content, Suzy focuses on the thinking, writing and analytical skills that examiners reward.

Through her articles, free parent guides and online teaching, her aim is simple: to make GCSE English clearer, less overwhelming and more achievable for both students and their families.