We live in the era of the attention economy. The internet is overflowing with information, with companies trying to capture attention through short-format videos or other forms of snackable content. The result: a new generation of school-going kids struggling with shrinking attention spans. It’s bad enough that kids are using social media outside school hours, but the U.S. government’s decision to introduce laptops and tablets into the schooling system appears to have backfired.
In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $30 billion to introduce the aforementioned gadgets in schools, and neuroscientists and learning experts have come up with findings that should concern every parent in America. So, let’s delve into the details of how laws enacted to benefit kids may have ended up doing quite the opposite.
Has US schools’ adoption of technological innovation become a tragic affair for kids?
It all started with Maine becoming the first state to implement a statewide laptop program in 2002 for certain grade levels to increase internet access among children. And why not? After all, more information should be beneficial. Through the program, 17,000 Apple laptops were distributed to seventh graders across 243 middle schools. The number increased to 66,000 laptops and tablets distributed to Maine students by 2016.
By 2024, about $30 billion had been spent on classroom laptops and tablets by federal and state governments. Traditional textbook-based learning was gradually replaced by screen-first instruction. But now it all seems in vain, as neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath, earlier this year in written testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, revealed that Gen Z is less cognitively capable than previous generations, scoring lower on standardized tests than the one before it. Gen Z is the first generation in modern history to do so.
Referencing Programme for International Student Assessment data taken from 15-year-olds around the world and other standardized tests, Horvath found that not only are Gen Z’s test scores dipping, but there is also an inverse relationship between scores and time spent on computers in school. He stated that unrestricted access to technology has deteriorated students’ learning capabilities.
“This is not a debate about rejecting technology,” Horvath wrote, adding, “It is a question of aligning educational tools with how human learning actually works. Evidence indicates that indiscriminate digital expansion has weakened learning environments rather than strengthened them.”
Horvath further warned that a generation with declining cognitive ability will not only struggle in the job market but will also face difficulty overcoming existential challenges in the decades to come. He also stated that children are having a harder time focusing due to unrestricted internet access.
According to data cited by Fortune, although teachers intend these tools to be strictly educational, students often use them for recreational purposes. This prompted Horvath to conclude that technological distractions are a key hindrance to learning, as once attention is interrupted, it takes significant time to refocus.
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“Unfortunately, ease has never been a defining characteristic of learning. Learning is effortful, difficult, and oftentimes uncomfortable. But it’s the friction that makes learning deep and transferable into the future,” the neuroscientist said.
What’s the solution to the crisis?
In light of growing evidence of dwindling attention spans among children, Horvath argues that classrooms must rely on evidence-based standards before digital tools are adopted, along with tighter controls on device use during lessons to counter distraction. Rather than abandoning technology altogether, he advocates for learning environments that are effortful and cognitively demanding.
He also warned that classrooms should not double as surveillance environments, noting that many educational platforms track student behavior and build psychological profiles. He called for laws to prohibit such practices.
Meanwhile, social media companies are facing a slew of lawsuits accusing them of making their platforms addictive for children. The consolidated group of cases includes more than 1,600 plaintiffs—over 350 families and more than 250 school districts—scheduled to be argued before a jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court. If found liable, the tech giants could be forced to make design changes to their platforms.
It remains to be seen whether the matter is taken with utmost seriousness and whether federal and state governments introduce laws that ultimately benefit children by curbing technology in domains where it is clearly doing more harm than good.
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