Overview
- The international report led by neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath finds Gen Z (born 1997–2010) underperforms previous generations across attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function, and IQ.
- Cross‑national data from more than 80 countries in the study associates widespread classroom technology adoption with subsequent drops in student performance.
- In 2026 Senate testimony, Horvath and other experts said cognitive declines trace to the rise of digital exposure since roughly 2010, noting teenagers spend over half their waking time on screens.
- Horvath argues digital learning trains students to skim rather than build deep understanding and recommends limiting devices in schools and restoring rigorous, sustained study.
- Senators from both parties expressed concern and said they are considering regulatory approaches, as Horvath warned that Generation Alpha could fare worse without policy changes.