Recently, I've found myself feeling a bit troubled when observing children.

In the past, I worried about whether children were doing well in school, but now I find myself concerned about something even more fundamental.

It's their ability to read and understand text. I'm not talking about test scores or grades, but rather the ability to read a sentence to the end and grasp its meaning accurately.

When I talk with children, I sometimes find it surprising.

If I ask them to read a few lines of explanation, they often jump to conclusions halfway through. They don't read to the end.

Even when they do read, they understand the core message differently. What's even more surprising is that they often don't realize that this is a problem.

They genuinely believe they have read it. Yet, they interpret the content in a completely different way.

When I think about why this has happened, the answer is obvious.

Looking at the reading environment for children today, it makes sense. The time spent reading books is decreasing.

Instead, what they consume all day are communities, social media, and short videos.

Platforms like TikTok or Shorts deliver stimuli in just a few seconds. Content that requires lengthy explanations is already being ignored.

The issue lies in the culture of comments. They resemble fragments of words rather than complete sentences. Most are abbreviations, fragments, or expressions that only convey emotions.

Grammar is not important, and context is even less so. The standard becomes who can react faster and more intensely.

When reading hundreds of such posts daily, the very sense of reading proper sentences inevitably weakens.

Books are different. They contain sentences, flow, and logic. You need to understand the previous sentence to grasp the next one.

You have to read while thinking. However, this experience is becoming increasingly rare.

It has become natural to look for "Is there a three-sentence summary?" when faced with long texts. It feels like the skill of skipping has developed more than the ability to think.

Sometimes, when I see posts in communities, I feel a bit bitter. There are numerous comments that express anger based solely on the title.

It seems that very few have actually read the content of the article. Yet, their voices are the loudest.

If this continues, there will be more people reacting than those who read and understand.

Although we call it an information society, it seems we are getting closer to a reaction society.

Looking at TikTok comments makes this even clearer. Most of the posts lack sentence structure. They end with exclamations, emojis, or a few short words.

At first, I thought it was just a trend. But when this becomes the norm and the standard for writing, the story changes.

As language simplifies, thinking also becomes simpler. You only think within the range of what you can express.

So, when I see children today, I worry more about their reading habits than their studying.

It seems that the ability to understand text will become more important than the ability to solve problems, yet that aspect is gradually weakening.

We seem to have entered an era where information is abundant, but understanding is lacking.

Many parents share these concerns. Regardless of whether it's in English or Korean, I often hear that the habit of reading long texts is disappearing.

Reading skills are becoming an increasingly important issue in schools. There is a growing awareness that this is not just a language issue but a thinking skills issue.

In fact, it seems there are no grand solutions. The only thing we can do is keep books close at home and show our children that we read first.

Creating an environment where we put down our smartphones and open books. That might be the most realistic approach parents can take these days.

We cannot stop the world from changing. Short videos and social media are necessary. However, I hope we don't forget one thing.

The power to think does not come from short stimuli. It is developed through the process of following sentences, pondering meanings, and reading to the end.

When I see children today, I wonder if they can find information faster than anyone else, but their speed of understanding is gradually slowing down.