In a tech heavy world, encouraging children to read is crucial

As we approach the forthcoming college fall semester, much discussion has centered on the difficulties a lot of Gen Z students are having with reading and critical thinking. One Chronicle of Higher Education article that many of my colleagues at Ohio State University's Lima campus recently read delves into students' struggles with literacy. This review essay, simply titled "My Students Can't Read," was written by Tyler Jagt, an adjunct professor of liberal studies at Mercer University. Jagt discusses what I now like to call the "usual tech suspects" when it comes to students being disengaged from course readings: smartphones and artificial intelligence. He asserts, "Offloading tasks to a chatbot does not 'free students up for higher-order work.' It deprives them of building the strength to do any substantial cognitive work at all." Jagt explains at the beginning of his essay how he assigned a 20-page article to his rhetoric and writing students, and no one in the class read it. What most concerned him, however, was that this was not a remedial course. The assessment of his students' admissions essays placed them in his class, so reading and analyzing a detailed piece should not have been problematic. Jagt concurs with Adam Kotsko, a humanities professor in the Shimer Great Books School at North Central College, who believes that most college students are not lazy or indifferent regarding their coursework. Many just fell behind in reading at earlier grade levels. There are a plethora of studies examine the harmful effects of technology on students' cerebral development. Jagt cites a 2022 study from researchers at Japan's Showa University who found that reading comprehension decline could be traced to "prefrontal overload" due to enormous amounts of time spent on smartphones. A key finding in a study published in February in Pediatric Reports concluded that excessive smartphone use affects "executive (functioning)" and "sensory processing" in adolescents. While neuroscience evidence continues to link analytical regression to smartphone engagement, one significant factor that I have been thinking about is how a love of reading needs to be instilled in kids at a young age. Upcoming traditional college freshmen were born the year after the first iPhone was released in 2007. Screens have competed for their attention since kindergarten and elementary school, so it's not surprising that many of them do not find reading captivating now. To begin to shift this trend of tech negatively impacting intellectual skills, parents have an important role to play in their children's reading progress. I remember how my mother always encouraged me to read as a young girl, as did our close family friends. When I was 10, one of my maternal grandmother's best friends gave me a children's Bible book. It was well over 50 pages, and I read it in three days. The book was beautifully illustrated with vivid images of some of the most beloved stories in Scripture, such as the prophet Elijah calling down fire from Heaven to expose the powerlessness of the Canaanite-Phoenician god Baal and God's protection of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Hebrew captives given Babylonian names, when they refused to bow to the golden idol King Nebuchadnezzar erected. These stories not only planted a great seed of faith in God for me but also tremendously advanced my reading ability. Other children's literature that I enjoyed while in elementary school included John D. Fitzgerald's "Great Brain" books. The only time I remember really pushing back on my mother's insistence that I read was a high school summer where I honestly just wanted to spend most of my days watching television. My mom turned the TV off and handed me Louisa May Alcott's classic novel "Little Women," a book that established my foundation for understanding complex cultural and historical literary themes. Granted, the parents of my generation did not have to deal with the dominance of tech, but parents today can still have the same primary educational influence over their children as my mother had for me. At the end of his essay, Jagt states that we "have to rebuild the conditions for literacy deliberately" in order for college students to not only succeed academically but also become productive citizens. As an English professor, I take my role in this very seriously. I use a Gen Z coming-of-age theme in my composition classes, which has resonated well with my students as they read about current events that affect them. I am determined to do all I can to make sure they do not lack in their rhetorical skills. Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer in the English department at Ohio State University's Lima campus. Email her at smojc.jj@gmail.com.