Elite Colleges Struggle With Students Who Can’t Cope With the Strain of Reading an Entire Book



Students at prestigious colleges are finding it increasingly difficult to finish entire books because they don’t have the necessary attention span. Some professors claim they’ve been forced to reduce reading assignments and lower their expectations to prevent students from becoming overwhelmed. It’s not that the students are illiterate, but rather that they have been trained by their smartphones and other instant technology to read short bits of information. One literature professor confessed that she used to assign 200 pages of reading each week, but has had to cut the requirement in half because of her disengaged students. Meanwhile, other professors have pointed out how students’ addiction to TikTok has caused a “crisis of attention.” While students struggle to get through a single book, they will spend 6 hours a day on TikTok. “My students are overstimulated, depressed and exhausted from mainlining TikTok and Instagram,” said Greg Wrenn, an English professor at James Madison University. He pointed out that students will often look up their study topics on TikTok to see if they can get a 15-second rundown. In 2004, the average amount of time a person could focus on one thing was 2½ minutes; now it’s 45 seconds.