How the Youth Literacy Crisis is Affecting Critical Thinking and Language Skills
It’s not surprising that in the age of technology, reading for pleasure has declined significantly. Everywhere you go now, you’ll see people’s faces illuminated by the blue light of a device, whether that be a phone, tablet, or computer. Even children will be preoccupied with a screen of their own. The American Time Use Survey found that the amount of people who read casually declined by about 3% per year over the past two decades, with only about 16% of people doing so in 2023. Recent assessments by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have shown that approximately 70% of fourth graders fall below the proficient level for literacy. America is facing a literacy crisis, as the rates of illiteracy have been higher than ever from the past century and a half.
A big contributor to declining critical thinking and language skills is how technology has affected the reading process. Many who consume most of their information online read in short bursts by skimming articles or social media posts while combating other distractions, deteriorating reading comprehension over time through attention fragmentation. Generative AI has also become increasingly popular in recent years due to its ability to provide information about any topic on the fly. A study done in 2025 found that approximately 84% of high school students utilize AI in some form or way when it comes to schoolwork, often for research purposes such as finding sources and gathering information. While this may seem like a convenient way to save time scouring through numerous articles, critical thinking is lost with a failure to truly engage in research and let a machine do all the reading, thinking, and writing instead. This leads to cognitive offloading, the habit of delegating tasks to AI to avoid taking on more mental load. Indeed, it would seem the need to read has become less prevalent when we have access to a wealth of information at our fingertips.
Alongside all the information, there are many businesses competing for the limited resource that is our attention, a concept referred to as the attention economy. The idea is that our cognitive capacity is a commodity that every digital platform is trying to keep the most of, with addictive short-form content catered to our interests by an algorithm being designed to reward our constant focus. With that consistent attention though, we become less accustomed to engaging critically with what we’re consuming, resulting in mental fatigue when faced with reading longer, more complex text.
Diving into reading denser texts, such as academic papers or lengthy novels, requires the reader to come in with a certain amount of linguistic context. How does language imply any kind of causal or correlative relationship between two ideas, and how does a sentence relate to the bigger picture of what is being communicated? A recent article by Zarifa Sadigzade, MA, from Nakhchivan State University explains that those with fragmented attention may only be able to pick up key words or phrases, but will struggle to explain what it means in the limited context as well as how it ties back to the main idea. Reading is also important for vocabulary acquisition, a skill that becomes more important for students entering higher education. A reader may see a new word out of context but fail to grasp the meaning due to a lack of understanding of the text as a whole.
The ability to comprehend text lays the foundation for engaging critically with information. A study conducted in 2019 further demonstrates the effect of fragmented reading on comprehension. The participants were fifth-grade students in east China divided into four groups instructed to complete reading tasks. Two groups each were given either congruous or fragmented information and would either be in an environment that simulated every day distractions or would have no distractions. As expected, reading comprehension scores were significantly lower for groups that experienced distractions regardless of how the information was presented to them. To apply the results into real world context, the study illustrates how attention is often rapidly switched between tasks and comprehension is lost without sustained focus.
How can we motivate newer generations to read more? Reading doesn’t have to be a boring activity. There are plenty of ways to foster excitement and love for literature. Public libraries often hold programs for children and young adults to socialize, creating an environment where reading is actively encouraged among peers. Children will be more inclined to read books tailored to their interests, so allowing them the freedom to choose what they read will make the experience more exciting. Keeping books in a visible place in the house or in the classroom provides something to do when boredom strikes. Adults can also model behavior for children by setting aside a designated reading time during which both adult and child are reading independently or even reading to each other.
It is crucial to understand the effects of declining literacy rates on youth development so these issues can be addressed now and for future generations. This isn’t the first literacy crisis that America has gone through and most likely not the last, but being equipped with the knowledge and self-awareness of our habits can go a long way towards changing them for the better.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Paris Cumba
Contributing Writer
Paris Cumba is a recent graduate from the University of Central Florida with interests in social and developmental psychology, specifically in the autistic/neurodivergent population. She has been a Contributing Writer for Remember Magazine since July 2026.
References
Adair, A., Howell, J., Jacklin, A., Walton Radford, A., & College Board Research. (2025). U.S. High School Students’ Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence: New Evidence from High School Students, Parents, and Educators. https://research.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/AI%20Research%20Brief%201_vf_0.pdf
Bone, J. K., Bu, F., Sonke, J. K., & Fancourt, D. (2025). The decline in reading for pleasure over 20 years of the American Time Use Survey. iScience, 28(9), 113288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113288
Liu, Y., & Gu, X. (2019). Media multitasking, attention, and comprehension: a deep investigation into fragmented reading. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(1), 67–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09667-2
Sadigzade, Z. (2026). The attention Economy and the Reading Crisis: Linguistic and pedagogical impacts of shortened focus on youth literacy. Journal of Azerbaijan Language and Education Studies., 3(2), 28–38. https://doi.org/10.69760/jales.2026002003
The attention economy and the collapse of cognitive autonomy. (n.d.). The Denny Center for Democratic Capitalism | Georgetown Law. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/denny-center/blog/the-attention-economy/
The literacy crisis in America – USA Reads. (n.d.). https://usareads.org/the-literacy-crisis-in-america/
Tomé-Moreira, C. (2025, March 14). The Dangers of Outsourcing Thinking: Losing Our Critical Thinking to the Over-Reliance on AI Decision-Making. LessWrong. https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xXYuns8inHD9ogoth/the-dangers-of-outsourcing-thinking-losing-our-critical
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