Reply to Gen Z: First generation that’s officially dumber than the previous one

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "Gen Z: First generation that’s officially dumber than the previous one"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents

[url]https://fortune.com/2026/02/21/laptops-tablets-schools-gen-z-less-cognitively-capable-parents-first-time-cellphone-bans-standardized-test-scores/[/url]

In 2002, Maine became the first state to implement a statewide laptop program to some grade levels. Then-Governor Angus King saw the program as a way to put the internet at the fingertips of more children, who would be able to immerse themselves in information.

By that fall, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative had distributed 17,000 Apple laptops to seventh graders across 243 middle schools. By 2016, those numbers had multiplied to 66,000 laptops and tablets distributed to Maine students.

King’s initial efforts have been mirrored across the country. In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $30 billion putting laptops and tablets in school. But more than a quarter century and numerous evolving models of technology later, psychologists and learning experts see a different outcome than the one King intended. [u]Rather than empowering the generation with access to more knowledge, the technology had the opposite effect[/u].

Earlier this year, in written testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath said that [u]Gen Z is less cognitively capable than previous generations, despite its unprecedented access to technology[/u]. He said Gen Z is the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized tests than the previous one.

While skills measured by these tests, like literacy and numeracy, aren’t always indicative of intelligence, [u]they are a reflection of cognitive capability, which Horvath said has been on the decline over the last decade or so[/u].

Citing Program for International Student Assessment data taken from 15-year-olds across the world and other standardized tests, Horvath noted [u]not only dipping test scores, but also a stark correlation in scores and time spent on computers in school, such that more screen time was related to worse scores[/u]. He blamed students having unfettered access to technology that atrophied rather than bolstered learning capabilities. The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 also didn’t help.
[/quote]

We are STILL waiting on the data to back up that claim...

Your hack should go back to school to understand the difference between correlation and causation.

[/quote]

Literally tiring reading this lazy slop from low IQ people. You obviously are not high IQ, didn't excel K-12, and don't have a child like that. If you've been around enough really smart people growing up, heard the complaints and watched people learn, and wondered why other people were struggling when they were given more resources while you were provided less, you would know how hackneyed you sound by repeating something you think sounds smart but don't actually get.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics