{
  "id": 6546587,
  "title": "Reading the room",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/reading-the-room",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-10T05:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Emerging Europe",
    "slug": "emerging-europe",
    "url": "https://emerging-europe.com/reading-the-room/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores reveal that teenagers are reading worse than they were previously, and adults, who vote, show no improvement. With a surge of short-form video content available across numerous social media platforms, encompassing topics ranging from politics to food, sport to travel, dating advice to film reviews, it appears that young people and adults alike may struggle to dedicate time to reading. The OECD's PISA 2025 test, which included over 760,000 15-year-olds from 91 countries and economies, indicates that reading skills are declining, especially in critical areas such as evaluating information and critical thinking. The fall in reading performance is particularly concerning, with scores declining in essential skills needed in the age of artificial intelligence, such as assessing information accuracy and drawing connections across various sources. Additionally, cases of 'hasty reading' - where students read quickly but inaccurately - nearly doubled from 8% in 2018 to 9% in 2025. These findings suggest a longer-term trend rather than a recent phenomenon, as the decline in performance predates the Covid-19 pandemic in many countries, pointing to deeper and more persistent challenges within education systems. The OECD attributes these results to a combination of factors, including increased digitalization, longer screen time, and a decline in reading for enjoyment. Countries experiencing the most significant drops in reading scores also saw larger decreases in mathematics and science performance. While digital and AI tools are integrated into students' learning, their impact on performance varies based on usage. Moderate digital device use for learning correlates with stronger science performance, while excessive use and digital distractions lead to weaker outcomes. Moreover, over one-quarter of students report that their classmates are distracted by digital devices during science lessons. The OECD's secretary general, Mathias Cormann, suggests that policymakers have several strategies to enhance education systems' effectiveness and efficiency. These include setting high, consistent expectations for all students in reading, mathematics, and science, prioritizing depth over breadth in teaching, ensuring curriculum, teaching, and assessment reinforce each other, and minimizing digital distractions in classrooms. It is also suggested that AI should be employed for feedback and personalized practice rather than replacing actual learning efforts. The report also highlights that societal trends beyond schools and education systems may have influenced how young people learn and engage with written texts. PISA 2018 results indicated that students' reading habits have changed, with a higher proportion of both boys and girls reporting they only read when required. Over the decade from 2009 to 2018, the index of enjoyment of reading declined across OECD countries. Additionally, students were found to read fewer fiction books, print magazines, and physical newspapers, as well as engage more with text through online activities like searching for information, chatting, and reading news online. Parental responses to the PISA parental questionnaire suggest that reading has lost ground as a 'favourite hobby' among parents, indicating a decline in reading enjoyment among both parents and children across many countries. This trend suggests that attempts to regulate young people's access to social media may not effectively address the root issue. Instead, it could potentially improve online safety but fail to equip young individuals with the skills to critically evaluate disinformation they will encounter as adults. The real concern lies not only in the impact on young people but also on adults, who are just as susceptible to manipulation and disinformation. Since 15-year-olds cannot vote, adults are more susceptible to being persuaded by candidates' bot-driven social media campaigns.",
  "summary": "Teenagers read worse than they did, the newest PISA scores find. Ban their social media if you like; the adults, who vote, fare no better. Amidst a deluge of short-form video content across so many different social media channels, content which these days can cover anything from politics to food, sport to travel, dating advice […] Reading the room was originally published on Emerging Europe .",
  "key_points": [
    "Reading skills of teens and adults declining according to OECD PISA 2025 scores",
    "Decline in critical evaluation and critical thinking abilities",
    "Short-form video content and digital distractions contribute to reading decline"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The decline in reading skills, particularly in critical thinking and evaluating information, threatens to erode adults' ability to discern disinformation, leaving them susceptible to manipulation by politicians and other actors.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}