Blog Post
Schools are using manga to increase boys’ literacy rates – and you can too
With reading enjoyment at an all-time low, there is another unexpected form that is drawing in young people. Here's how you can get teenage boys reading for pleasure again.
Reading for enjoyment is at an all-time low, especially amongst young boys. Their disengagement with literacy is a significant factor in their low academic performance compared to girls – and this gap is widening. The knock-on effects include fewer men pursuing higher education, and the number of male NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) aged 16-24 rapidly rising.
Why we’re losing them
Boys’ reading levels plateau around the ages of 11-13, then swiftly nosedive.
A hallmark of the teenage years is balancing time and competing activities, with many young people preferring activities in their free time that require ‘less brain power’ or – crucially – offer more connection with their peers. These peer relationships and social acceptance are vital. And, according to some adolescents, the media portrays reading as antisocial and solitary. If this portrayal is unchallenged, it heavily influences how the activity is perceived.
Statistics show that boys and girls are encouraged to read at a similar rate, but they also show a key difference: girls are much more likely to turn reading into a social experience. They discuss it with friends and, swapping recommendations, challenge the perception that it’s anti-social or ‘uncool’.
This happens less for boys, making reading less associated with peer connection. Instead, gaming with friends or playing team sports take centre stage. They become the leisure time priorities; reading often falls to the bottom of the list (if it appears at all).
Critiquing boys’ reading choices is affecting their literacy rates
Every reader needs materials that are attractive, diverse and relevant to their interests and lives. According to reading experts, a lack of male educators means that books recommended in the educational space are often more appealing to girls. Meanwhile, boys who read graphic novels frequently face negative reactions.
[Every school] should be aiming to build a reading culture [...] built on respect for choice and enthusiasm. It requires [...] an honest appraisal of what 'reading' is.
Alison Tarrant (Chief Executive, School Library Association)
Visual literature is the only area of fiction that is more popular with boys than girls, but it is often stigmatised as not being ‘real reading’. As one high school librarian states: “There are still many parents and educators who come up to me and say, “My child isn’t reading,” yet they’re holding a stack of graphic novels”.
So, what do we do?
The visual literature standout: Manga
Discard misconceptions about what ‘real reading’ is. If teenage boys enjoy visual literature, we should encourage it. And the current global juggernaut? Manga. It’s so prominent that, by 2021, it comprised 26.4% of the global visual literature market.
What is manga?
Manga is an umbrella term for an illustrated medium originating in Japan, but it’s popular globally. It’s incredibly engaging, with strong characters, interesting storytelling and appealing visuals. Each novel usually forms part of a series as opposed to being standalone, with these ranging from a few volumes to hundreds. Shonen manga, targeted at boys 12-18, is the most popular.
In Japan, manga is valued for several reasons, including its ability to boost empathy and, notably, give readers something to discuss with their friends. Across Europe, fans appreciate manga for its escapism, relatable protagonists, and stress relief. Over half of readers say that manga has helped them form friendships, and more than 75% would read more manga if possible.
As most manga readers are male, this reflects a dramatic contrast to teenage boys’ experiences with traditional reading. Manga seems to prove effective in motivating strong reading habits – one of the leading drivers behind increased literacy rates.
How this school library got boys reading again
Lucas Maxwell (SLA Librarian of the Year, 2017) runs the library at Glenthorne High School, a London state school. His library averages over 750 daily visits in a school of roughly 1700 students, and 7 of his top 10 borrowers for the 2023-2024 academic year were boys. Boys also borrowed 10% more than girls. According to Lucas, this boom in boys reading for pleasure is down to manga. When we spoke to him, he noted:“When I first came to the school a decade ago, there were really no manga. There were maybe under 10 copies of Death Note. Now, we have hundreds of them. When I’m looking around in the library in the morning, by 8am we’ve got 100 kids in the library. And it’s just a sea of boys sitting around the manga shelf – reading voraciously.”
Lucas prides himself in running an immersive and active school library, including a popular manga club: “The club has a mixture of ages, from 11 to 16/17. And that’s what’s amazing – they all come together for this one purpose, to read manga. We’re not reading the same book. We’re doing manga and comics activities. Talking about the language, doing games and activities, and bringing in guest illustrators.”
How does this focus on manga tie into the school’s literacy performance? The percentage of students receiving good passes in English and the school’s overall EBacc score soar above the national average and that of the local area. In the key UK measure of achieving a grade 5+ at English GCSE, there is only a 3% gap between boys and girls (75% vs. 72%). At grade 4+, the gender attainment gap disappears entirely.
How to get started with manga
A digital library
As teenagers get older, they prefer reading visual literature in digital formats. Plus, it can take years to build a manga collection that provides a range of genres, target ages, and enough copies of popular titles. By having manga in your digital library, you and your students get instant access to titles. You also don’t have to worry about the physical condition, copies going missing, or spending time weeding.
Digital resources such as PressReader offer students a vast variety of resources and help to challenge the notion of reading as confined to a physical book. With a global collection of newspapers and magazines on a huge variety of topics, it's a great place to start when encouraging reader for pleasure.
Resources for you
We’ve also compiled a range of resources from librarians across the globe to help get you started with manga, whether it’s print or digital. This is our list of manga highlights for educators: