"Basically Illiterate" — Gen Z Isn’t Reading to Their Children, and Educators Are Worried

Gen Z parents are doing a fine job of ensuring their children are illiterate. At least, that's according to a recent survey conducted by HarperCollins UK, in which less than half of Gen Z parents described reading to their children as a fun activity.

Around 33% of the folks queried in the survey replied that reading felt more like an arduous task as a subject to learn, rather than an activity parents can enjoy with their children as they watch them develop crucial mental skills.

Spencer Russell, who runs the Instagram account @toddlerscanread, featured a post in which he said he's been asked, "Why in the [redacted] would you teach a toddler to read? Aren't there more important things for them to learn?"

According to him, many folks who see posts of children on his page reading books assume that these kids have their noses in books all day. However, he says that this is only a snapshot of their day and that just because a picture or video of them checking out a book online shows up on someone's feed, it doesn't mean that kids aren't actively honing "other developmental skills."

The content creator's account is filled with tutorial videos on how parents can effectively instruct their children on how to read better. This includes posts about specific letter pairing sounds, and ways to make learning to read an engaging and fun activity that'll only help to strengthen the bond between kids and their folks.

The Guardian writes that Spencer asked parents on his Instagram account, "Why aren't you reading aloud to your kids?" In a discussion with the outlet, he shared some of the replies he received from parents who replied to this specific query.

According to Spencer, one parent defended their decision not to read to their kids by saying, "It's so boring." Another person replied by stating, "I don't have time."

Another mom replied, stating that she doesn't read to her children because she doesn't like the activity on her own. "I don't enjoy reading myself."

It appears that this mentality is adversely affecting the children of these parents, who are loath to read as well. The same aforementioned survey writes that "only a third of five-to-10-year-olds frequently read for fun."

That number was much higher back in 2012, where more than a half of children in this age group read books.

Furthermore, Russell said in the same Guardian article that it's apparent when a child isn't being read to. According to him, there are throngs of kids who have no issue sitting and watching YouTube for hours on end. However, when they're presented with a book, they "move, wiggle, or scream and run away."

NDTV echoed the aforementioned assertions regarding Gen Z parents and their lack of enthusiasm when it comes to reading to their children. Furthermore, screen addiction in Gen Alpha children is also to blame. Kids who routinely have access to smartphones and tablets and are constantly consuming media via these devices are much less likely to sit still and read.

The American Psychological Association published research that indicates human attention spans have been in a serious decline throughout the years.

The outlet penned that these contraptions are an unending source of distraction, which has ultimately "affected our ability to focus." With exponential leaps in technology and easy access to content anytime and anywhere there is a data/WiFi/Internet connection, this has ultimately shrunk the average human attention span.

Dr. Gloria Mark spoke about "focused attention" versus "rote activity." The latter requires critical thinking skills and a dedicated mental effort assigned to set tasks. Whereas rote activity is more passive. It appears that over indulging in rote activity can adversely affect a person's overall attention span.

Dr. Mark went on to state that she has been documenting the attention spans by measuring them with stopwatches. In 2021, the average attention span was 75 seconds. As of this writing, it's become significantly shorter: folks have an average attention span of only 47 seconds.

Presumably, with more and more reliance on rote activity procedures, such as the constant implementation of artificial intelligence programs and consuming mad-dash, fast twitch media pieces, attention spans will only become shorter.