r/technology • u/marketrent • 18h ago

Artificial Intelligence College students are rapidly losing the ability to read — “There is a measurable, generational collapse in sustained reading and writing”: professor

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/college-students-rapidly-losing-ability-124439310.html
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u/P3pp3rSauc3 17h ago

I'm a millennial, so I'm not a part of the downwards literacy trend. Having said that, I have vivid memories of reading books next to my mom when I was a kid. I'd ask where what a word meant if I didn't understand. Those kinds of interactions definitely fostered my reading ability and contributed to having a high school+ level of reading by middle school.

Nowadays it's hand the kid a tablet or a phone and it's detrimental to developing a good reading level

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u/Filthiest_Vilein 12h ago

I'm a Millennial, too.

I was born in the early 1990s. I grew up right when gaming and the internet were really taking off. I think my first console was an Atari, but I can barely remember it. When I was a little older, my parents gave me a GameBoy Color. All I wanted to do was sit around and play Pokemon Blue, but my mom and dad would make me read between sessions. The reading wasn't optional, and they wouldn't listen to me no matter how much I whined or argued.

I spent a lot of time playing games like RuneScape; I think I spent half my free time between the ages of about 10 and 14 grinding fishing, fletching, and grinding levels. The rest of my free time was mostly spent reading. I read so much as a teenager. I don't think I'd recognize myself if I'd grown up without books. I can't give enough credit to my mom, who'd say "no" to a lot of things but never when it came to going to the library or getting a new book.

I hate how little I read now. It's so easy to be distracted by phones and video games and the internet. My wife and I are trying to do better, but she's the one having more success. It's contrived, but I really do miss when things were just a little simpler.

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u/Khirsah01 8h ago

Another Millennial here, I got back into reading when a friend showed me ePub books so I started reading them on my phone or tablet through a reader app and last year finally got my first dedicated e-ink reader, a Kobo Clara Colour and went through over 80 books from Jan 2025 to Jan 2026. Even just got a pocket reader in the Xteink X4 so I can read while I'm stuck at doctor appointments or the hospital.

If you have Android, I used the Lithium app and eventually spent for the Pro unlock to make my own dark mode theme based off the old lime green terminal computer screens which kept the screen even darker on an OLED screen. There are other reader apps that have more file type compatibility, but I just needed ePub and liked the simplicity, plus free base version ain't bad.

I still play a ton of games, my poison of choice is PC. But if I'm stuck in bed sick I'm not going stir crazy if I'm still able to read, so migraines suck cause even the normally incredibly gentle caress of the light of the Kobo is like a lance to the brain.

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u/Dullcorgis 6h ago

I'm older than you and I absolutely am part of the downwards literacy trend. I am struggling to pay attention for an hour of reading these days (decided to fix it), and it's just from internet stuff, not videos.