The research report, "Reading in a Digital Age" discusses two primary concerns regarding children and reading in an Internet age:
- Children are less proficient at reading and have shorter attention spans because of their involvement with technological toys and tools.
- Children are distracted by technology and other entertainment and as a result are not reading as much as they used to.
Reports as early as 1990 discussed the ways in which learning and reading via electronic media differs from reading text. Author Jane Healy states:
“the capacity for reading sustained text is being threatened by competition from visual media…the ability to pursue the development of an idea, step by step in a logical chain of reasoning, through sentences and paragraphs – is an outgrowth of the linearity of print.”
Both Jane Healy and researcher Sven Birkert (both cited in "Reading in a Digital Age" say that because of the technology of television and the computer (primarily), children can no longer sustain interest in long narratives or texts with deeper meanings. Their attention span is so short and their work so fragmented between different media that children are both unable and unwilling to read anything longer and intellectually more challenging.
Healy and Birkert were writing before the advent of even more fragmented communication and reading tools were introduced; namely, messenger systems and Internet searching. One need only observe a youth on email, chat, or instant messaging to see that their communication methods are fragmented sentences and partial ideas, and often it is occurring at the same time as reading other texts online or in print. No activity occurs on its own anymore. How, then, does this affect a child’s ability to read good, old-fashioned text?
Conversely, Healy and Birkert also write that the degeneration of reading has been occurring for centuries. Going back to the eighteenth century, before mass publication of books, people read and reread the same text (e.g., the Bible). With the proliferation of literature as mass production occurred came works of lesser quality (an early Harlequin romance, if you will). The “deep reading” of earlier texts was replaced by “superficial reading” where each text was essentially a replication of the text before it and required little intellectual thought or analysis.
So - one could also argue that the decline of “reading” has been occurring for the past couple of centuries, and the Internet with all of its appendices, is just one more factor at play in the erosion of reading skills.
What have you observed or experienced with regard to a shortened attention span amongst children or young adults?
13 Comments:
I think, we now call it multi-tasking! My daughter can instant message someone, while talking on the phone to someone else and
watching a TV program. Her age-group still seems to be able to watch a movie--although even then she is doing counted cross-stitch.
Something I have also observed is that they seem to watch movies they like over and over again on video or DVD.
Muriel
Yes, that is one difference of the new generation - the ability to multi-task. Even libraries have to be aware of this, especially when planning redesigns or new buildings. I did a space planning project for Grant MacEwan College LRC last year and one of the things we noted was that students work in groups, multi-tasking and student space in the library had to be redesigned to accommodate that. There isn't a need for as much quiet, solitary study space any more.
Norene.
Every September when we go back to school I find it challenging to get kids back into reading for extended periods of time. We have a 1/2 hour reading period each day. In September there is lots of fidgeting by the time the bell is going to go. Now, after months of practice, I have to push some kids out the door who would rather read their book. I also have one Readers' Workshop period a week where I do a short minilesson (10 minutes tops) then students have the remaining 40 minutes to read. In the beginning of the year, kids would read enough to write a response then fidget for the remainder of the time. Now, I have to remind some, who get so involved in their book, that they forget to respond. It takes time to build up the stamina to be able to read for extended periods of time. It also requires the knowledge and ability to use reading strategies (question, clarify, predict, summarize, visualize, connect, tap into prior knowledge) and the ability to select a book that will be enjoyable. If it's not the right book, they aren't going to read. Arlene
Arlene,
That is actually quite reassuring to hear that kids are still involved in reading. My own daughter's teacher (grade 5) says that the whole class are big readers, and she really has to work to get them to stop reading and focus on the next task. Thanks for sharing your experience,
Norene.
I think as a society we have developed skills in a variety of technologies. I'm not sure you can compare the reading abilities of earlier societies where only a small percentage of the population could read to our current population where most can read. The students I teach seem quite capable of reading for extended periods of time - when the distractions of cell phones, video games, etc are removed.
Shannon
Shannon,
That is the key, perhaps. Remove all electronic distractions and children are actually quite focused, still. There is a report from 2004 in the USA Today that states,
"The change isn't necessarily bad, Los Angeles media psychologist Stuart Fischoff says. As media exposure grows, "these kids could be expressing 'the new brain.' They could be an advance guard that suggests we may need new ways of teaching children exposed to a lot of media stimulation."
But some experts are concerned. "This should be a wake-up call that we need to take a closer look at how early media use affects children," says Vicky Rideout of the Kaiser Family Foundation. "We know hardly anything about it."
They are referring specifically to television and how it is contributing to short attention spans but I think you can carry over the evidence to computer use.
You can find the report at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-04-05
-tv-bottomstrip_x.htm
Norene.
Here is another more up to date article that reports on a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (which I referred to as well in the Neopets section). The answer to whether or not children have shorten attention spans and difficulty concentrating because of media?....drumroll.....
"we don't know", say the experts.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-03-30-kids-attention_x.htm
Norene.
Sorry, here is the complete link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/
2005-03-30-kids-attention_x.htm
Hi Norene: I loved your quote: "we don't know", say the experts. LOL
That about covers it for most of the issues we are concerned about - literacy, violence, aggression, rudeness, .... I think every generation laments the limitations or faults of the next generation(s).
Well, as to your question about the reading of young people, I really don't know either. It is difficult to compare apples to oranges. There is such variety among children and among peer groups, etc. We could ask the same question about musical talent or physical fitness...it is difficult to judge from our limited perspective. sorry. :)
Yes, every generation will have their own claim to fame. My parents were aghast that I had a radio playing while I did homework.
I'm amazed to see my son converse with friends on msn, watch a movie, and play guitar at the same time. But when he reads, he reads. He claims reading involves senses and reading itself is a form of multitasking!
He also has ADD but can sit and read for hours. A good book has no problem holding his attention.
RoseAnn
Thank goodness for the person that brought up multitasking. How can a matured literate conduct a research on millions of youngster's reading habit, observe their retention span and come to a tangible conclusion?? Seriously, "we don't know".
Being in my 20's, I can read a book with the music on while eating at the same time! Oh... add that to a running computer on the side. The sooner people start to realize that human beings are unique and "our world" is changing at the speed of light, the better it'll be for everyone.
Peter,
My three-and-a-half year old stepdaughter does not yet possess the attention span to sit through a book being read to her if it is longer than about 10 pages. She will gladly read the book to you, however, even if it is only a quick sentence like "Daddy Sweetie Keirna went to park and Bear stayed home" while reading from my upside-down textbooks. I know she likes to play on the computer while at her Mom's house, but because we don't regularly have a computer at her Dad's, I can't assess if the computer will affect her attention span that much. That being said, as a teen I could instant message my friends and accomplish 5 other things at the same time. But, after the computer was turned off, I would choose one of up to four books I would have on the go at one time, and read a few chapters before bed, or finish an entire book in one day. While it did not affect my attention sapn for books, it is still too early to tell if e-books will have a different effect on today's youth.
To encourage anyone now a day s to read is a challenge, but more so with children. As a parent and a student I have had to find more creative ways to encourage reading. Like gaming magazines rather than books or having subtitles on movies or books on tape to encourage, entice, and expand my children's scope of language and ideas about reading. Multitasking is an fact for everyone in our society and combining activities along with reading seems to recreate interest in books and more so the written word. Libraries are the ones that most of this creative redirection falls on and unfortunately they are not always equipped to handle the new needs for the electronic age
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