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According to her, kids in her class can’t sit still, have diminished attention spans and can barely read or write. And the biggest factor contributing to this decline in learning ability and behavior, she believes, is their excessive reliance on technology.
“Technology is directly contributing to the literacy decrease we are seeing in this country right now,” Maria said in her post.
Here’s why she believes the problem could get worse if lawmakers, regulators and school boards don’t step in right away.
AI-driven literacy crisis
The overreliance on AI-enabled devices has become a crutch that most students can’t do without, according to Maria.
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Annual reading and math skill assessments by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) seem to confirm her observation. Average scores have declined 7 points in reading and 14 points in mathematics over the past decade.
Younger kids are struggling too. Less than half (47%) of kindergarten students were able to read at grade level during the 2021 to 2022 school year, according to Real Clear Education.
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Instead, children find screen time more engaging and enjoyable. A study published in the JAMA Pediatrics medical journal found that adolescents aged 13 to 18 years spend 8.5 hours daily on average using screen-based media.
This tech addiction is leaving many young Americans unprepared for life outside school, according to Maria.
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She calls on regulators and school boards to step in and solve the issue before it’s too late.
Rethinking education
Maria’s recommended solution for the problem is to “cut off technology from these kids, probably until they go to college.”
More than a third of U.S. adults seem to share Maria’s view that the use of AI has “very or somewhat negative” impacts on the K12 education system, according to a 2023 YouGov poll.
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Nevertheless, if AI tools become more potent and pervasive while literacy rates continue to drop, teachers, regulators and parents may have to rethink the way they educate the next generation.
