The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released data from a study of 15 year olds in the principal industrialised countries. It shows unequivocally that teenage students whose parents discuss political or social issues with them, either weekly or daily, score 28 points higher at reading (on average) than those whose parents discuss these issues less often or not at all. Other factors were also associated with better reading ability: discussing books or television programmes, eating main meals together at a table and spending time talking to children. Discussing news and serious issues showed the strongest association, so if parents spend time discussing these issues with their children they will help their children read well.