Schoolchildren 'cheat by watching films'

Did you cheat by watching a film to pass a school exam rather than read the book.

I did

Thursday, March 27 2008, 06:08 GMT

By Beth Hilton, Entertainment Reporter

One in ten pupils "cheat" in English lessons by watching film adaptations instead of reading the original books, a poll has found.

Baz Luhrmann 's Romeo And Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, was revealed to be a favourite of schoolchildren forced to study Shakespeare's play.

Watching the BBC adaptation of Pride And Prejudice with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle was also a popular alternative to Jane Austen's book.

The YouGov poll for booksellers Blackwells found that Londoners were the worst culprits, with 16% viewing the films instead of studying classic texts.

The survey also found that two-thirds of Britons did not know that movies including Ten Things I Hate About You and Clueless were adaptations of older works.