The national literacy crisis is only worsening
How much has truly changed since school was made compulsory?
The first question in a previous culture share set the ball rolling for a discussion in which the team could not agree on how discernment and digital literacy can be taught, if they can.
Should young people be exposed to so much information from such a young age?
For millennials who grew up in the 1990s, the media was proliferating and expanding in ways it previously hadn’t due to telecommunications advancements. The media was far less fragmented and accessible, while possessing the ability to broadcast locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
The height of advertising could be found at Times Square or Picadilly Circus, and 24-hour news was only ever on satellite and cable television. By the end of the 1990s, the earliest forms of social media, including online forums, had begun to emerge.
As our Head of Research, Jamie suggests, young people are exposed to the realities of the world at an early age. Older generations have been called ‘snowflakes’ and ‘lazy’ for resisting societal norms. Jamie goes on to suggest that younger generations have played a role in building a world that is fundamentally more empathetic than ever. The Palestinian Genocide is, without a doubt, the most impactful and commanding social and humanitarian issue of our time. As we’ve seen over the last few years, social media is where public opinion is fought for, perhaps more so than in traditional media in recent times.
Jackie, our 26-year-old designer, believes that the ability to discern and develop digital literacy has been heavily reliant on the resources available to different generations. There’s little doubt that young people today have more access to information and resources than decades ago. With tools such as critical thinking, we’re taught not to take everything at face value and ask questions about how language is used and can be used to influence and shape opinion.
Anya, project manager at ON ROAD, who also used to work as a teacher, says that critical thinking in schools could help tackle digital illiteracy. It’s an issue the government has acknowledged, particularly for the elderly who are often targeted through email and SMS scams posing as HMRC. Schools, universities and colleges were able to adapt very quickly when the lockdown started five years ago, with classes being taught online. If the education system has acknowledged our need to be tech-savvy, it should go one step further to educate young people on navigating it.
The National Literacy Trust’s latest research shows reading enjoyment among 8- to 18-year-olds has dropped to its lowest level since 2005, with enjoyment of reading at a crisis point. Two in three children and young people don’t enjoy it. It makes for stark viewing that the average reading age of UK adults is between 9-11 years old.
The National Literacy Trust also reported: “If all school-aged children in the UK read for pleasure every day, the number getting five good GCSEs by the age of 16 could increase by 1.1 million within 30 years, boosting their average lifetime earning potential by £57,500 and adding £4.6 billion to the UK’s GDP each year.
A survey of business leaders conducted by the National Literacy Trust demonstrated concerns about the literacy gap. 9 in 10 businesses were concerned about young people’s levels of literacy in the workplace, and 1 in 5 business leaders said poor literacy skills were a significant problem for their business.
Given the substantial societal and economic impacts of the UK’s literacy challenge, the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge brings the business community together with charities, schools and the government to prioritise literacy and improve the literacy skills of children and young people who need it most.”
What that system would also need is teachers who are not only empathetic but also able to think critically. But with many leaving education altogether due to budget cuts, increasingly difficult environments and workloads, governments and local authorities would need to tackle the brain drain the sector is currently facing.
With older generations susceptible to spin, fake news and disinformation, the digital illiteracy issue can’t be solved by teaching it in schools alone. There aren’t many healthy spaces for debate where people can disagree online and in some forms of traditional media as well. Discourse becomes polarised and binary, encouraging people to become further entrenched in their worldviews and beliefs. Typically, this would take a concerted, collective and coordinated effort to improve digital literacy beyond the ability to spot AI and scams.
Children’s educational TV still holds its value as a resource provided by networks and broadcasters and with online content, there are far more options than ever before. Sesame Street and Playdays were once staples of kids’ educational TV but the challenge over the past twenty years has been that online content with higher frame rates is far more engaging and enticing for young minds, impacting attention spans overall. Miss Rachel, who was recently named one of Glamour’s Women of the Year, has provided a necessary salve with her engaging and relatable approach, leaning into YouTube as a creator platform and modernising how children’s educational TV can be engaged with.
Another alternative, which many young people have begun turning to, is migrating offline completely. Rather than having to decipher and decode so much language and messaging online, many are choosing to resist by not engaging, opting for a life where they get to decide what media they consume. Over time, these acts may reshape how we think and process information, but they are also personal acts of resistance which we all have the power to implement in our lives. However, this can only happen once we start asking questions about what is presented online.
With tech brands increasingly folding AI into their product offerings, boasting about its benefits to make our lives easier, few have addressed the potential risks. There are many ways in which AI can be manipulated, such as deepfakes and essay writing, which are only going to increase. In these instances, brands should also provide consumers with the tools on how to spot AI use, particularly in the workplace. With AI being marketed towards organisations and corporations, this should be a no-brainer.