How a Global Pandemic Affected a Generation of Students

Colette Paterson ‘28

Sarah Lawrence students studying for conferences in 2021
Image: @sarahlawrencecollege on Instagram

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world hard and classrooms even harder. In the height of panic, teachers and school administration worked with what they had for the students' best interest. Proms were canceled and elementary schoolers learned multiplication on Zoom. Pivots were made to try and compensate for the shocks and concerns people were riddled with. Coming up on five years since the pandemic, we are starting to see the lasting effects in the classroom.

“The kids can’t read” is a phrase that swept the internet this past year. Originally starting off as a joking sentiment, users have watched as teachers come to social media to explain their concerns with the new climate of classrooms. @QBSkiiii on TikTok has a video that has now surpassed 5.3 million views that took part in starting this conversation. “I teach 7th grade. They are still performing on the 4th grade level—they just keep passing them on… I can put as many zeros in this grade book as I want to, they’re gonna move that child to the 8th grade next year.” He also touches on parents being unaware of their children falling behind. A critique that has also been a hot debate is surrounding how involved parents should be in their child's life.

Others add to the conversation that yes, while COVID-19 greatly impacted schools and student’s learning, this has been a problem for quite some time. Around 21% of adults in the U.S. have low literacy skills according to the National Center of Education Statistics. In comparison, an article by UNICEF mentions concerns with children post pandemic stating, “In low and middle-income countries, learning losses to school closures have left up to 70 percent of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text, up from 53 percent pre-pandemic.”

Leaning into the argument of parental responsibility being the main change in culture, people are drawing correlations between the societal shift in the working and parent climate. In this economy, most families need a two-person income to get by, resulting in teachers dealing with more than before. Between legislation, life events and societal changes, learning looks different in 2025 compared to previous years. While effects in young students in primary, middle and high school are being mentioned, there is little to no conversation on young adults and how they have been impacted in post secondary learning environments.

Professors mentioned their concerns of the environmental shift in a post pandemic world. With shorter attention spans and less deep reading interaction, one professor says they feel social media is a large contributor to the struggles students might be facing. Professors noticed that the handling of feedback was a newer strife they feel is pushed by social media and the sensitivity of it all. Instead of a conversation, it can feel like a power struggle. In general, one professor says they feel students are lacking in intellectual curiosity. Wanting to learn for the sake of learning has dissipated. It feels more transactional, rather than the student being there because they want to learn. Once again, professors think social media is behind at least some of this as they have experienced less students being willing to pick up a text and even not doing the readings but supplementing them with videos from social media instead.

A Sarah Lawrence student writing their conference project at the kitchen table of the house in 2020,
Image: Raphael Schoeberlein

Instructors have noticed changes in classroom interactions too.

“Students talk less to each other and more to the professor in seminars. They think they are giving an answer to the professor, not generating conversation and an answer within the group.” Says another professor.

Even with Sarah Lawrence setting the bar high for being able to access your professors and interact with them, some students have been struggling to be proactive and provide communication. Professors may not hear from students for a while and not see them after class either. There are also concerns of too much comfort in the student to professor dynamic. Potentially from either lack of boundaries on social media students are referring to professors as peers.

Observations among students and their social lives have been noted as well. “I've heard students talk more about social difficulties, particularly situations in which someone has been ostracized by their ‘friend group.’ I do keep hearing about people being suddenly dropped by all their friends, in an apparent group decision, which is not really something I remember hearing about before the pandemic.” Says another long-standing Sarah Lawrence professor.

Social dynamics in college have changed from before. After asking if there have been any noticeable differences in behavior among students who were impacted by COVID-19 at different ages, one professor did comment, saying, “From [my] observations only the lockdown group was eager to be social after their life was on Zoom. Some of the First Year Studies students sometimes seem like they would rather be anywhere else—like they are removed from the motivation to interact with each other.”

A Sarah Lawrence student’s dorm packed up to leave for quarantine,
Image: Amanda Wall

Reduced attention spans and social interactions are not just at the fault of the pandemic. In having these conversations with professors, most often the conclusion was that there are a multitude of things that have changed education for young adults. If we think back to ten years ago at Sarah Lawrence in 2015, there would have been no TikTok, no Snapchat memories feature, and even no Pokemon GO.

A professor who teaches at Sarah Lawrence comments, “The main thing I believe is that the internet has changed the texture of everyday life for college students vastly more than the pandemic did. Twenty-five years ago, if students wanted to be in touch with their families or with their high school friends, they'd have to use the phone in the hall of their dorm. If they wanted to watch something, there was a TV in a student activities room in MacCracken. If one wants to spin this positively, one can say that there's less social isolation today, because we're all so connected. If one wants to spin it negatively, one can say that there's less of an opportunity to discover whatever can be discovered in solitude now. I also think that the modern phenomenon of making one's life public on the internet and also the phenomenon of internet shaming have changed everybody's brains more than any of us can understand.”

Within the short time social media has been alive, it has taken incredibly large strides to integrate itself into the daily lives of students. Between a global pandemic, social media usage skyrocketing and the political turmoil of our country, it is not a shock college life has changed. A more positive change is that not all of the differences have been noted as negative. One professor spoke very highly of the new change in advocacy they have seen. “It might be from understanding the flexibility of COVID-19… anything from asking the professor for a deadline change or an accommodation, but students are looking out for themselves to help their education.”

A new way of life brings new challenges. College years are hectic as is for new adults navigating the world. Factoring in the chaos of recent times, it is only fair that people will change and adapt as their worlds do. The tribulations we faced five years ago do not stay in that time. It is important to investigate and inquire changes in education, especially in times as momentous as this. The bottom line is that kids and young adults have been greatly impacted by these recent historic events. The best we can do is try and find out what has been occurring in a post-pandemic world, and find the best way to support them moving forward.

The Kids Can’t Read and the College Students Don’t Want To