I stumbled upon a book review earlier that really struck a chord.  Doug Lemov reviews Maryanne Wolf’s ‘Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World.

As a teacher, the book’s theme is one that has concerned me for some time, i.e. the decline of reading (especially print material) and our increasingly fleeting attention span.  

An article in The Conversation suggested US teens were spending 6 hours a day on social media and online during their free time in 2016.  UK statistics are similarly shocking.  Over one third of teenagers spend at least 3 hours on social media; one fifth spend at least 5 hours, according to figures in this Guardian report from 2019.

Having become slaves to our devices, Wolf suggests our ability to read deeply and, as a consequence, our propensity for reflection, creative association, critical analysis, and empathy are being lost to us.  

As Kurt Vonnegut wrote,

“By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well.  This to me is a miracle.”

Instead, we are now increasingly distracted by the device in our pockets and the dopamine surges arising as each notification pings.  Meditation lost to mindlessness.

To address this, Wolf calls upon schools to row back from technology use to ensure pupils develop both digital and print literacy.  Her vision, “School as a place apart as much as a place connected; school as bastion against technology as much as acolyte.”

With the growing influence technology corporations exert in our schools and on the education sector, and with some schools having already moved completely to technology use, issuing tablets or laptops to all, have we fully thought through the implications of these decisions?

Lemov’s book review prompts many thoughts and questions, and I look forward to reading Wolf’s book for myself.  His conclusion, “Reader, Come Home is an important, impeccably researched book possessed of just one flaw—its Reader” suggests he is not hopeful of turning the tide.  

What are your thoughts?

*Click highlighted words for links to articles.