THE NON-FICTION EXPERIENCE

It seems that today’s students have a growing lack of interest in education as a personal experience. Many of them see academics as something they have to deal with simply because they’re too young to get a job and start earning real money, the thing they believe will allow them to get what they want.

Teachers today are competing with the effects that screen devices have had on students. Imagine being a child with a phone in your pocket that gives you access to all the information in the world, yet you mostly use it to watch 6- to 8-second videos. These reels give quick dopamine hits that feel good in the moment.

What often goes unnoticed is the sense of freedom these devices give. Students can constantly choose what to watch and what to skip. Their brains get used to the idea that if something isn’t interesting, they can immediately move on. Over time, this builds a habit of expecting constant control and quick rewards. When every “action” lasts only a few seconds, the brain gets a lot of practice reinforcing this behavior.

So when students sit in class and are expected to focus on something that takes time and effort, their brains push back. They want to skip, just like they would on their phones. But since they can’t, they end up feeling drained, unfocused, and disconnected from the lesson. In some cases, they even lose the ability to enjoy being in school at all.

Children have a strong need for heroes. Before screen time took over, kids relied more on their imagination. This is where personal heroes often came from. When a student looked up to someone from history or from a field they were interested in, they had the time to imagine what it would be like to be that person, to grow into someone like them.

That kind of imagination helps build self-belief and motivation toward academic goals. In simple terms, many children today aren’t really dreaming, and even worse, they may not know how to. That’s why teachers play an important role in helping students see the value of having a hero to look up to, in hopes of inspiring their imagination again.