Investigation of factors responsible for poor reading habits among secondary school students in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

A cultivated reading habit is crucial in education because it is the vehicle that drives and enhances learning in any field. One thousand students who were randomly selected from twenty senior secondary schools in Lagos city constituted the sample for the study. The study revealed that 60% of the respondents’ considerable part of their time watching European football matches on the television instead of reading their textbooks. The study also revealed that 80% of the students spend their prime time watching home videos on African Magic or Nollywood as against reading their textbooks. The study further shows that most of the students pay more attention to modem technologies like cell phones, social media and computer games. Furthermore, the finding of the study shows that reading activities are not encouraged in most of the sample schools. Therefore, the study recommends that stakeholders in education should set up a monitoring team to go round schools to monitor study habits of students. Also, parents should be encouraged to monitor their children reading habits at home. The study also recommends that functional libraries should be developed and equipped in secondary schools to encourage reading among senior secondary school students in Lagos State. In addition, awards should be given to students who are found to have developed meaningful reading habit.