In 2002, Maine became the first state to implement a statewide laptop program to some grade levels. Then-governor Angus King saw the program as a way to put the internet at the fingertips of more children, who would be able to immerse themselves in information.
By that fall, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative had distributed 17,000 Apple laptops to seventh graders across 243 middle schools. By 2016, those numbers had multiplied to 66,000 laptops and tablets distributed to Maine students.
King’s initial efforts have been mirrored across the country. In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $30 billion putting laptops and tablets in schools. But more than a quarter-century and numerous evolving models of technology later, psychologists and learning experts see a different outcome than the one King intended. Rather than empowering the generation with access to more knowledge, the technology had the opposite effect.
I think it’s literally because they don’t have the mental stamina to deal with it. If they want to know anything, they just look it up and follow the steps. There’s no resilience or practice in retaining lots of information.
For example, I had to memorise a lot of phone numbers and addresses just in case I left my address book at home. I had to remember where things were so I wouldn’t get lost because I didn’t have access to a digital map.
I also went back to university and encountered all of this. I was floored when my classmate went to a YouTube video of someone reading the GitHub manual page rather than reading it themselves.
My friend who works with two Gen Z colleagues are absolutely addicted to their phones and get massive anxiety when talking to someone on the phone (which is a core part of their job). They also get huge anxiety with admitting that they’ve made a mistake.
We’ve failed an entire generation as a society.
Time spent with zero access to “the answer” is key I think.