新奇事件簿 三分之一的孩子没有睡前故事（在线收听）

It seems the age-old tradition of children getting a bedtime story before sleeping is on the wane in Britain. A new study reveals that around a third of parents do not read bedtime stories to their children. The study, from British online retailer Littlewoods.com, also found that up to 50 per cent of children would prefer to watch TV or play computer games than be read a story. Researchers further discovered that a paltry five per cent of British under-sevens do not even own a book. Parents came up with a myriad of reasons why they did not read to their little ones. Thirteen per cent of parents blamed a lack of time, nine per cent said they are just "too stressed", while others said their children were simply not interested.

在英国，孩子们睡前听故事的古老传统似乎逐渐衰退。一项新的研究披露，大约三分之一的家长睡前不给孩子讲故事。这项研究来自英国在线零售商Littlewoods.com。研究还发现，与听故事相比，多达50%的孩子宁肯选择看电视或玩电脑游戏。研究人员进一步发现，5%的英国七岁以下儿童甚至连一本书都没有。家长不给孩子讲睡前故事的理由多种多样。13%的家长认为没有时间，9%的家长说他们“压力太大”，其他人则表示他们的孩子不感兴趣。

Littlewoods has teamed up with British pop star Natasha Hamilton to try and reverse this trend. They have launched a bedtime story writing competition for children under seven. Ms Hamilton, 31, told reporters: "I'm really excited to see all the different story ideas and can't wait to see what the kids come up with. Choosing a winner's not going to be easy." She spoke about her own joy as a mother in reading bedtime stories, saying: "As a mum of three, I know just how enjoyable reading bedtime stories to my kids is." A spokesman from Littlewoods.com said: "We appreciate how important it is for parents and kids to spend quality time together, and bedtime stories are a great way to do just this."

Littlewoods与英国流行歌手娜塔夏·汉米尔顿合作试图逆转这种趋势。他们为七岁以下的孩子举行了睡前故事创作比赛。31岁的汉米尔顿告诉记者：“看到那些各种各样的故事创意，我非常激动，迫不及待地想看看孩子们创作出什么故事。选出冠军并不容易。”她描述了自己作为母亲给孩子讲睡前故事的乐趣：“作为三个孩子的母亲，我知道给孩子讲睡前故事多么开心。”Littlewoods.com一位发言人表示：“我们理解家长和孩子共度欢乐时光多么重要，讲睡前故事正是一个很好的方式。”