At a Loss of Words? How the Digital Age has Impacted Literacy Rates In The New Generation

Sarah Wegner & YuQiao Shao

We’ve all seen the Instagram reels — teachers freaking out over seniors who can’t write a simple sentence. Although this scenario seems comical at first, real-life statistics show the concerning numbers behind the reel.

According to PBS News, daily reading for pleasure in the U.S. dropped by over 40 percent between 2003 and 2023. EdWorkingPapers and School Library Journals also cite uneven access to resources like libraries and the steady decrease of free time as predominant issues. But most impactful is the presence of digital platforms and short-form content. Constant scrolling trains the brain to seek constant stimulation and instant gratification — the opposite of what reading provides. 

Artificial intelligence also plays a large role. Students can and have been using AI to bypass school assignments. When used responsibly, AI can be a helpful tool. However, instead of doing the necessary work of struggling through the learning process, students have been turning to AI to provide answers for them. This avoidance of engagement causes more harm than the initial accusation of plagiarism — it hinders vital developmental skills such as critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving. By relying too heavily on this technology, students become deprived of the ability to think for themselves — or even the confidence to believe that they can.

But what does this mean for students? The 2025 Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, found that 15-year-old U.S. students’ reading scores fell 14 points from the last time the test was administered in 2022. Further findings from PISA indicate fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores worsened, with roughly a third of eighth-graders failing to hit basic reading benchmarks. Knowledge gaps left over from the pandemic also contribute to this issue. 

Of course, a sharp decrease in the literacy rate negatively impacts more than just grades. The loss of learning proficiencies doesn’t only harm the individuals involved; it impairs society as a whole. Limited literacy could lead to a rising disinterest in civic participation, as many could fail to comprehend ballot measures, news coverage or even political debates. Moreover, limited literacy skills make it more difficult for people to identify bias, propaganda or misleading information in mass media, complicating how they make informed decisions about serious matters in society. 

More concerning is what the lack of reading does to the human mind — it weakens attention spans and conditions consumers to seek short bursts of dopamine, depriving the brain of more thought-provoking information. This leads to a decline in cognitive ability, shown by how Gen Z is the first group reported to score lower on cognitive tests than their predecessors. And with AI, one can only feel concern for the future of human thinking. 

A decline in literacy is changing the way rising generations not only learn, but also think, focus and interact with society. As technology becomes more central to everyday life, the ability to think critically, stay informed and engage meaningfully with the world becomes more important than ever.