BBCPERSIAN — broadcast
20261010 233000 UTC
146 transcript segments
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[00:21:11] What has happened to Generation Z? These are the results
[00:21:15] of the world's largest international test
[00:21:19] for 15-year-olds. These results didn't change much
[00:21:22] until Generation Z entered the scene. Since
[00:21:26] 2012, scores have significantly
[00:21:29] dropped. When
[00:21:32] I see the charts, I get sad because I know many people's first
[00:21:36] reaction will be to say that Gen Z is less intelligent
[00:21:40] or that Gen Z doesn't try hard enough. So,
[00:21:42] is a generation really becoming less intelligent, or is
[00:21:46] there something else to the story? These data belong to the Program
[00:21:50] for International Student Assessment, or PISA.
[00:21:54] A program that started 25 years ago. This test is held
[00:21:57] every 3 years, and now more than 750,000
[00:22:00] adolescents in 91 countries and regions participate
[00:22:04] in the same test. Of course, this test is not
[00:22:07] an IQ test. Its goal is to see how well 15-year-old
[00:22:11] adolescents can use science, mathematics, and
[00:22:15] reading skills to solve real-world problems.
[00:22:18] If.
[00:22:50] They were born in the early 90s of the Persian calendar. This means that many
[00:22:53] of them spent their school years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
[00:22:57] COVID caused a major disruption in children's
[00:23:01] lives, from school closures to changes that occurred in families
[00:23:05] and society as a whole. Therefore, it would have been strange
[00:23:08] if we hadn't seen such an effect in long-term trends.
[00:23:11] دیدیم.
[00:23:13] But let's look at these charts again. Researchers who
[00:23:17] administer the PISA study say that the drop in scores
[00:23:20] had already begun before the pandemic. They say COVID is part of
[00:23:24] the story, but not the whole story. Meanwhile,
[00:23:27] a theory from an American neuroscientist quickly
[00:23:31] spread online. Why? What
[00:23:35] happened? What changed around 2012? What caused
[00:23:38] school education to become separated from cognitive development?
[00:23:42] The answer cannot be school, because school was the same as it was before.
[00:23:45] It cannot be biology either, because there hasn't been enough time for such a change.
[00:23:49] It seems that the answer lies in the tools that
[00:23:52] we use in schools for education. Her theory is
[00:23:56] that replacing textbooks and notebooks with tablets and
[00:24:00] laptops can directly affect test scores.
[00:24:03] Also, some scientific evidence
[00:24:07] shows that compared to reading a book or writing on
[00:24:10] paper, using a screen may interfere
[00:24:13] with the process of the brain registering and remembering
[00:24:17] information. The director of the PISA
[00:24:20] study says that perhaps we are now observing the effect of this
[00:24:24] in the results. The reality that everyone
[00:24:27] sees but fewer talk about is technology itself. If
[00:24:31] we saw the same decline in all subjects, perhaps we would say that the quality
[00:24:34] of education has decreased. But that's not the issue. The sharpest decline
[00:24:38] is related to reading skills. A decline that is seen precisely in areas
[00:24:42] that are intertwined with the digital world. This decrease in
[00:24:45] reading scores is one of the biggest declines that
[00:24:49] researchers have recorded to date. The extent of this decline
[00:24:52] is almost equivalent to losing a full year of
[00:24:55] education. To be honest, the decline in reading skills in my own
[00:24:59] generation really worries me. I see
[00:25:02] this issue especially among younger adolescents of
[00:25:06] Gen Z, those who seemingly never enjoyed reading.
[00:25:09] This issue is terrifying to me because reading is the foundation
[00:25:13] of almost all other subjects. Given
[00:25:17] all of this, you might be tempted
[00:25:20] to blame all the score declines on technology in schools.
[00:25:24] But like the COVID story, it's not that
[00:25:28] simple. The effect that screens have on children depends
[00:25:32] on how they are used, on what activities they replace, and
[00:25:36] even on the child themselves. It's important to see what
[00:25:39] we do on these screens and why we use them.
[00:25:43] The real effect must be sought there. This is another
[00:25:46] PISA chart. The chart shows how many hours a day
[00:25:50] students use digital tools for leisure
[00:25:53] in school, and what connection this has to their science
[00:25:57] scores. The trend is quite clear. Students who
[00:26:01] spent a lot of time in school using technology for leisure,
[00:26:04] such as social networks or games,
[00:26:07] had lower scores. But when
[00:26:11] we look at the educational use of technology in school,
[00:26:14] the picture changes. Students who used
[00:26:18] digital tools for learning achieved higher scores
[00:26:21] compared to those who did not use these tools.
[00:26:25] And if we look at Singapore, students
[00:26:29] in this country are among the best in the world in all
[00:26:32] subjects. The interesting point is that they also
[00:26:36] say they use technology in the classroom more than almost any other
[00:26:40] country. This very fact shows
[00:26:44] that the matter is not so simple. The director of this research
[00:26:48] says that different countries have introduced technology
[00:26:51] into their education systems in different
[00:26:54] ways. Many education systems still lack the necessary
[00:26:57] capability and infrastructure for purposeful,
[00:27:00] conscious, and...
[00:27:05] The reality is that it's much easier to distribute tablets among
[00:27:08] students and let them occupy themselves
[00:27:12] with them. But we shouldn't forget that the life of a 15-year-old
[00:27:16] is not limited to school. Most
[00:27:19] of them grow up in a world where digital tools
[00:27:22] are present in all aspects of it. Even if
[00:27:26] you completely ban the use of technology in schools,
[00:27:30] students still have access to mobile phones,
[00:27:33] the internet, and social media when they get home. They might
[00:27:37] spend a whole day in school without technology, and then when
[00:27:41] they get home, if they wish, they can spend 8 consecutive hours
[00:27:44] on social media. In the
[00:27:47] next PISA test, a new section will be dedicated
[00:27:50] to how 15-year-olds use social media
[00:27:54] and artificial intelligence. But we have to wait
[00:27:57] until 2031 for its results.
[00:28:00] In the meantime, scientists are trying to understand
[00:28:04] what effect this technology has on all our brains, not
[00:28:08] just adolescents. In the past few years, concerns about the impact
[00:28:12] of screens on concentration have increased,
[00:28:15] especially after the widespread adoption of new forms of content, such as
[00:28:19] TikTok videos, content that was designed to grab
[00:28:22] attention. However, scientific evidence on the direct
[00:28:25] effects of these technologies on our attention and concentration
[00:28:29] is still limited. Probably one of the reasons for this
[00:28:33] is that this phenomenon is relatively new, and we haven't had
[00:28:36] enough time to study it precisely. In fact, many questions
[00:28:40] remain unanswered, and this question is also raised: Is this issue only
[00:28:44] related to Gen Z or not?
[00:28:47] I think if adults from different generations who regularly
[00:28:51] use social media are surveyed,
[00:28:54] similar signs will probably be seen. It seems
[00:28:58] that the problem of maintaining concentration is not only
[00:29:01] specific to Gen Z, but other generations are also struggling
[00:29:04] with it. While all of us are still adapting to
[00:29:08] digital life, it's not bad to go back to the same
[00:29:11] charts. What do these charts really tell
[00:29:15] us about Gen Z? Perhaps the only thing
[00:29:19] that can be said with certainty is that while these scores
[00:29:22] have declined, the world of Gen Z has also been changing
[00:29:26] rapidly. Part of this trend may be related
[00:29:30] to the use of screens, but other factors
[00:29:33] can also play a role, from changes in the education system
[00:29:37] to the COVID pandemic and even mental health problems
[00:29:40] among young people, which can affect their academic performance. The
[00:29:44] reality is that we are facing a set of factors. Most likely, none
[00:29:48] of them alone can explain a global trend
[00:29:51] like what we see
[00:29:53] today.
[00:30:44] Imposing social restrictions in Iran. Judicial and law enforcement
[00:30:48] officials have emphasized the implementation of hijab
[00:30:52] regulations, the prohibition of qalyan, and live music in cafes and restaurants.
[00:30:56] They stressed.
[00:30:59] Execution of two more detained protesters.