“The bar is the floor,” an elementary school teacher prefaced in a TikTok on key skills children need to know to be successful in fifth grade. I was astounded when he listed his first point: Students must know how to write their names. A handful of his students were unable to properly spell their own names when they first entered his classroom. I reflected on my own experience in elementary school — I could have never imagined my 11-year-old peers struggling to spell a simple word, much less their own names. I soon fell into a rabbit hole of teacher content on the internet: A multitude of fed-up elementary and middle school teachers has taken social media by storm, expressing concern after concern. Generation Alpha, which includes children born from 2010 to present, is underperforming and misbehaving in school at an unprecedented level — a majority of teachers have reported that misbehavior and morale have gotten worse after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a post-COVID-19 world, it is increasingly clear what has caused this decline in Gen Alpha’s performance and behavior in schools: the inescapable digital era, perpetuated by online schooling and a lack of socialization. Americans must break free from the pandemic trance and act fast to implement appropriate technology guidelines, ensuring that the younger generation — and other generations to come — have a chance to succeed in the classroom and the future. While many continue to solely blame COVID-19 for these failings, the education system must acknowledge that the pandemic intensified — rather than created — Gen Alpha’s struggles and must prioritize counteracting its continued damage.
In 2022, only 33% of fourth graders in the United States scored at or above proficiency in reading. The result follows a continued decline in proficiency rates since its peak in 2017. Gen Alpha is currently undergoing a crucial stage of their cognitive and social development. If their educational performance does not improve, there will be significant setbacks for future societal progress. Children will struggle to keep up with more difficult learning concepts as years go on, and an entire generation risks falling behind the complex world that preceding generations built. The root of the issue is clear: Gen Alpha’s overuse of technology puts their fundamental educational development at stake.
The increased difficulties in educating Gen Alpha have resulted in teacher job satisfaction rates plummeting and more teachers leaving the profession than ever before. While many institutional reasons factor into this result, there is no doubt that the negative shift in student behavior contributes to this issue. Increased screen time has made Gen Alpha more susceptible to behavioral issues and symptoms of ADHD, depression and anxiety, which inevitably manifest in classrooms, disrupting the learning environment. As a result, Gen Alpha has an increasingly difficult time focusing, resulting in educational delays. If this pattern continues, schools will be left with a dwindling, unsatisfied teacher force and an out-of-control student population.
During the pandemic, apathy-inducing Zoom lessons that failed to grasp students’ interests robbed them of an interactive and social learning environment during a critical learning period. Stuck at home and unable to interact with their peers, Gen Alpha overly relied on the internet for fast, stimulating entertainment. Once in-person instruction resumed, children were unprepared to pick up where they had left off. Slower-paced classroom environments could not engage students as well as their beloved iPads, causing many students to struggle academically or frequently act out.
However, Gen Alpha’s reliance on technology was present even before the pandemic swept the globe and certainly has not stopped even years after life returned to normalcy. This brings a rude awakening: Society cannot keep blaming COVID-19 for Gen Alpha’s educational shortcomings.
When used appropriately, technology in the classroom is a helpful tool to provide engaging lessons to students who are already accustomed to screens in their everyday lives. However, lessons on Chromebooks and smart boards reduce the time students spend on paper-and-pencil activities. In an era in which students struggle with writing their own names, increased hands-on learning is crucial to accustoming Gen Alpha to engagement outside of a touch screen and developing fine motor skills that will set them up for success in their educational journey.
The education system should delay heavy technology use in early elementary education until the majority of students are comfortable with writing simple sentences. As for older Gen Alpha students who may be bringing their devices into the classroom, schools must introduce ways to reward them for shortened screen time and introduce other engaging activities such as outdoor learning. In light of increased concerns, eight states have recently passed policies to restrict cell phone use in school. These policies are not yet perfect, but they are a step in the right direction to curb technology dependency. Many schools that have implemented no-cell phone policies have seen improvements in student engagement. Although these measures may be difficult and slow to implement on a mass scale, they are worth the effort — ultimately, Gen Alpha will be able to develop healthy relationships with technology and improve their attention spans.
As Gen Alpha become teenagers in the coming years and face greater academic challenges, the choice to pursue higher education will inevitably be on students’ minds. If the academic decline of Gen Alpha is not curbed, students risk being unprepared for the level of rigor that educational institutions — such as Emory University — provide. Fighting technology dependence early on will improve future students’ focus and social abilities, preparing them for the independent environment of college.
It is inevitable that Gen Alpha and future generations will be surrounded by technology. From subpar educational performance to brutal behavior leading to teachers quitting their professions, there is more than enough evidence that children cannot control themselves with technology on their own. It is time for internet users to take a break from ridiculing these “iPad Kids” and realize it is not the children’s fault for falling behind. Gen Alpha is in dire need of increased support from their parents, local school districts and administration to guide them toward proper digital use. If the educational system is not restructured, society risks a future that cannot function without a Subway Surfers gameplay constantly running in the background of everyday life.
Contact Kristen Seo at kristen.seo@emory.edu
