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Education

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LiberalArkie

(19,336 posts)
Sat Jan 10, 2026, 09:33 AM Saturday

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

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.

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

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