Teachers in many countries report the same change in students.
skills are fine, but for long text has fallen.
A class that can read a page struggles with a chapter.
Screens are the obvious suspect, though the evidence is more specific than that.
Reading on a device is fine; reading on a device that you is not.
Each costs far more than the seconds it occupies.
studies find a consistent gap on longer texts, favouring paper.
The gap almost disappears for short pieces.
Schools that protect twenty minutes of reading a day see measurable gains.
The rule is simple: one text, no devices, no questions until the end.
Choice of book matters less than length of the silence.
Adults, it should be said, have lost the same habit.
Any school asking students to read for an hour should consider who is modelling it.