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Children's Mental Health Week

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Can Reading Improve Children’s Mental Health?


Susan Lawrie is a Schoolreaders Northern Recruitment Coordinator and previously worked as a Pastoral and Mental Heath Lead in primary schools across the UK for 10 years. This Children's Mental Health Week, we're sharing her perspective on how reading can help to improve children's mental wellbeing.



Frank Cotrell Boyce, the current Children’s Laureate recently noted that there is a “recession in happiness” amongst our children and recent data supports this, with 1 in 5 children under the age of 18 now likely to experience mental health challenges1.


My experience as a former mental health specialist in primary schools has shown me first-hand how crucial it is to acknowledge the challenges faced by children and young people when it comes to their mental health and wellbeing. I would work regularly with children who were living through the most stressful situations at home - bereavement, divorce,  domestic violence or ongoing abuse to name a few.


The effect this stress and trauma has on children cannot be underestimated. It affects every facet of their life and would often have a significant impact on their engagement and behaviour in school. 500 children a day in England are referred to mental health services for anxiety and more than 250,000 children are on waiting lists for an appointment with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, known as CAMHS. In some areas of the country, the wait can be as long as 2 years to see a mental health specialist.


The Mental Health Benefits of Reading

To mark Children’s Mental Health Week 2025, I want to highlight a sometimes overlooked approach to improving mental health and wellbeing. It’s something that the team at Schoolreaders are obviously very passionate about: reading.


Reading goes beyond just improving literacy or expanding vocabulary - it’s a powerful tool for supporting mental well-being, building emotional resilience, and reducing stress and anxiety. It might surprise you to know that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child's future success – more so even than their family circumstances, parents' educational background or income.


Reading for pleasure can significantly improve children’s well-being, and those who read regularly report higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress2. I would often use a range of books and reading material in my sessions with children in school to help them identify and understand their emotions and develop strategies to regulate them.

Reading can support children’s mental health and wellbeing in many different ways. Here are just a few:

 

1. Reading provides an escape

Life can sometimes feel overwhelming for children. Whether it’s dealing with school stress, friendship issues, or just navigating the challenges of growing up, children have to contend with a variety of emotional demands. Reading can offer them a much-needed escape from these pressures; books give children the chance to enter new worlds and experience the emotions and adventures of characters. This can be a comforting and soothing experience, particularly for children who are feeling stressed or anxious.


2. Reading can boost emotional literacy and develop empathy

Reading doesn’t just provide comfort - it also develops emotional literacy and intelligence. When children read, they are exposed to a range of emotions and situations and learn how characters navigate complex feelings, relationships, and challenges. This fosters empathy, as children begin to see the world through different perspectives.


Additionally, reading about how characters face challenges and grow from them can be inspiring. It allows children to reflect on their own lives, recognize that they’re not alone in feeling down or uncertain, and understand that tough times are part of life but can be overcome.


3. Reading Reduces Stress and Anxiety

In today’s fast-paced, often overwhelming world, the pressures of being a child are arguably greater than ever and many children find themselves dealing with high levels of stress and anxiety. However, 60% of children in a recent study said that reading helped them to relax3. Reading offers an effective way to alleviate stress and promote mindfulness; even a short reading session can have a calming effect on the brain, slowing down heart rates and lowering blood pressure. Incredibly, reading for just six minutes can reduce stress levels by more than two-thirds.  In many UK schools, children will read quietly with a book of their choice for 15-20 minutes to restore calm after a hectic lunch break and ready themselves to focus for afternoon lessons.


4. Reading can build confidence and self-esteem

As children’s literacy skills grow, so does their confidence in themselves and their abilities. This sense of achievement has a direct link to improved mental well-being. I would often see how children who struggled with reading gained a sense of pride as they made progress. Our Schoolreaders volunteers will often comment on how a child who may have been feeling disengaged or downhearted will suddenly light up when they read a sentence on their own. These small milestones - whether it’s completing a new picture book or tackling more challenging texts - can help children feel proud of their progress as well as build self-esteem and resilience, essential attributes for children to develop in order to deal with the modern world.

 

5. Reading combats isolation and loneliness

In an increasingly digital age, social isolation can be a real issue for children, but reading can help bridge that gap. It provides a way for children to connect with others, whether it’s through a shared book club, discussing their favourite characters with family members, or simply talking about a story with a teacher, carer or friend.

Schoolreaders volunteers tell us they enjoy sharing their own stories and experiences with the children they meet in schools and often build lasting, meaningful relationships. These positive social and intergenerational interactions can help children feel less isolated and foster new connections in a way they may not have been able to otherwise.


A lasting impact

As a mum, I know how difficult it can be to see your child struggle with their mental health. Waiting lists are long for professional support and many children and parents have no choice but to manage by themselves the emotional turmoil that comes with parenting a child with a mental health issue. That’s why I am so passionate about supporting children to recognise their emotions and encourage them to develop strategies which help them cope with the demands of growing up in an increasingly demanding world. 

Whether it’s providing emotional comfort, reducing stress and anxiety, boosting confidence, or reducing isolation, reading can offer a powerful resource for supporting children’s well-being.


At Schoolreaders, we’re proud to be part of this important work, helping children not only develop literacy skills but also the emotional resilience they need to thrive.

Frank Cottrell Boyce summed it up perfectly when he said recently: “Our children are near the top of the global leagues when it comes to the mechanical skill of reading but near the bottom when it comes to ’reading for pleasure’. We’ve taught them all the steps and the names of all the tunes. But they’re not dancing.”


This Children’s Mental Health week, let’s continue to encourage children to embrace the wonderful world of reading—because the benefits of picking up a book extend far beyond just learning to read.


Susan Lawrie

 

References

3.       NLT: Young (aged 5 to 8) children's reading in 2022 https://nlt.cdn.ngo/media/documents/Young_childrens_reading_in_2022_-_Final.pdf

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