Gen Z are arriving to college unable to even read a sentence--professors warn it could lead to a generation of anxious an

[LiberalArkie]

As Gen Z ditch books at record levels, students are arriving to classrooms unable to complete assigned reading on par with previous expectations. It’s leaving colleges no choice but to lower their expectations.

One shocked professor has described young adults showing up to class, unable to read a single sentence.

“It’s not even an inability to critically think,” Jessica Hooten Wilson, a professor of great books and humanities at Pepperdine University told Fortune. “It’s an inability to read sentences.”

Her observation reflects a broader trend: nearly half of all Americans did not read a single book in 2025, with the habit plunging some 40% over the last decade. And even with young people embracing BookTok, a TikTok subcommunity dedicated to books and literature, Gen Z’s reading habits still lag behind all other generations. Americans aged 18 to 29 read on average just 5.8 books in 2025, according to YouGov.

Snip

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/career/ar-AA1TUrhe

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Clearly the elementary and high schools are falling down on the job.

I wonder what kind of SAT scores these kids have.

[MichMan]

2. Complete failure of K-12 education

Yet, somehow, they were all promoted to the next grade, many with honors.

[Be Leave On]

3. The drop in education

Seems related to the increase in homeschooling.

[in2herbs]

4. "It's leaving colleges no choice but to lower their expectations." Gee, could that be a reason why

our education system in the US is failing?

How or who filled out their college application if they can't read sentences?

[sinkingfeeling]

5. The RW has been successful in destroying education in the US.

[czarjak]

8. @TheRealMissionAccomplished?

They're for education, just not for the non-Whites. And they were willing to sacrifice what they thought would be a small portion of poor Whites for the cause. Instead, here we R! See: John Birch Society or Heritage Foundation

[GreatGazoo]

6. "It's not even an inability to critically think." Ugh

A literature professor talks like this?!

"It’s not even an inability to critically think -- it's an inability to read sentences."

What she means, I suppose, is "I can't teach analysis because they can't read full sentences."

The length of a work -- book, novel, short story, blog post, poem, song lyrics -- does not make it more or less worthy of a serious approach. Kids read all day long so what we are really dealing with is that kids won't stop reading one format for long enough periods of time to read novels (?) Studies show that "children who spent more time sending text messages had greater reading comprehension."

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5036529/

"leaving colleges no choice but to lower their expectations" They could flunk them. They could steer them toward a good trade school. Plumbers make decent money.

[cbabe]

7. Decades of teaching to the test. And a generation of teachers who

were ‘educated’ in the same system.

Funny story: niece’s friends were so fed up with endless ‘fill in the bubble’ tests, they began a contest to see who could make the best art with filled-in bubbles.

I remember a dolphin was a top scorer.

Ha.

[BobTheSubgenius]

9. Perhaps they're angling for a career with ICE.

I understand literacy is not a requirement there.

[MichMan]

10. Colleges will charge them $500 a credit hour for remedial courses