In 2004, the average attention span — calculated to be the time, for instance, an adult subject remained on one computer tab before switching to another — was recorded to be approximately two minutes and 30 seconds. That same study shows that in recent years, our attention spans have waned to a measly 47 seconds. With both the COVID-19 pandemic and the ever-growing popularity of social media — apps on which most users spend only 10-13 seconds per post — the average American’s attention span has only been further crippled.
Recent data also shows a steep decline — from 64% in 2012 to 40% today — in parents who read to their children, with an increasing proportion who view story time as a chore. Reading is now seen as a tedious means of helping your child acquire baseline literacy rather than an activity to enjoy. Only 40% of parents with children aged 0-13 reported that they found fun in reading to, or with, their child. During the first three years of a person’s life, more than one million new neural connections are formed each minute — most of which are now being barbecued by iPad time. With books’ waning popularity, children have fallen further and further behind by every academic and developmental metric. Lack of reading in early childhood is also directly tied to later deficiencies in critical thinking, comprehension, and elocution.
There is also a gendered difference: 44% of female children up to two years old are read to daily, in comparison to 29% of male children. Starting in first grade, boys perform significantly worse than girls in reading at every grade level, with the disparity growing all the way up to grade 12. Males are also less likely to enroll in college and more likely to sway toward conservatism. The feminization of literacy is also reflected in popular culture: One of the required accoutrements of the “performative male” is a physical book. We now find the idea of an adult male enjoying a book so unimaginable that we assume that it must unequivocally be for show.
So why should we, the esteemed Penn community, care? We have so little vested interest in the tragedies beyond our bubble. Despite our self-ascribed intellectual prowess, we have sadly displayed even less immunity to these trends than our fellow citizens. Fifty years ago, an education at any Ivy League school would have relied almost exclusively on massive textbooks and dense readings — there was a great deal of pride in the process and the act of learning. Today, Penn’s proudest pupils are those who can accomplish the most while toiling, thinking, and reading the absolute least: If you can ChatGPT it, you unquestionably should. Even the terminology of “locking in” and setting devices aside can be attributed to our perpetually wandering brains and scrolling thumbs.
Compounding the shame is the fact that our school, lauding itself as a beacon of the liberal arts, furnishes collections upon collections of first-edition books and rare texts. Paying Penn’s tuition is accompanied by access to these endless reserves of priceless works, which are utilized by embarrassingly few.
Because anything that is not a means to a discernible, professional end is scoffed at, reading — often not overtly productive — is rendered pointless. We tend to regard our exorbitant tuition as a flat fee for a prestigious diploma, as opposed to world-class pedagogues and bibliographical resources. At a University where the ultimate goal is to get by by doing the bare minimum, there is no place, or time, for reading.
Perhaps the greatest problem is that we’ve forgotten that some ideas require more than a one-minute skim to be truly appreciated. Our environment is so greatly shaped by misinformation, sensational headlines, and rage-baiting “debaters” that all respect for nuance has been lost. If you can’t understand it in 40 seconds, it’s not worth understanding. This is the true reason why the media, and along with it, our country, has become so polarized: because we — yes, even at Penn — lack literacy. We take things at face value and move on.
In our flippant, holier-than-thou declarations of “I’m not reading all that,” we’ve become more complacent with public affairs, seeking news on Instagram and relying on artificial intelligence to formulate every thought. Our inability to read and informedly develop our own viewpoints makes us that much more ignorant and passive — which then makes us a liability to both our colleagues and compatriots.
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations; you’ve done far better than the average reader. You deserve a medal, or perhaps a Penn degree.
GLADYS SMITH is a College junior from Williamsburg, Va. studying health and societies. Her email is gldysmth@sas.upenn.edu.
