In the 1980s and 1990s, getting children to read was already difficult. Teachers pushed books. Parents pushed books. Libraries pushed books. Many children still resisted. But we did not simply throw up our hands and surrender to distraction.<\/p>\n
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Strathmillan School students walk accross a feild before planting new trees on school property today.EDS NOTE-All the kids in this photo were not specifically ok’d for a picture.n\/a ORG XMIT: cityfile27a0<\/p>\n
Chris Procaylo<\/p>\n
I still remember classrooms quietly reading in the morning. Some students loved books. Others stared at the clock, waiting for recess. But the room learned something increasingly rare today: sustained concentration.<\/p>\n
Today, we sometimes act as though reading itself has become unrealistic.<\/p>\n
Screens dominate childhood. Attention spans have shrunk. Artificial intelligence can summarize entire novels in seconds. Yet at the same time, children across Canada are struggling more and more with reading, writing and concentration. We should not be surprised. A society that stops reading deeply eventually stops thinking deeply.<\/p>\n
Last week I wrote about artificial intelligence and the growing divide between those who will benefit from AI and those who may be left behind. That divide is beginning earlier and earlier in life. Children who can read well, think critically and sustain concentration will thrive. Those who cannot may find themselves increasingly pushed aside in an economy demanding higher and higher cognitive skills.<\/p>\n
The irony is that as artificial intelligence becomes more powerful, deeply human skills become more valuable. Concentration. Judgment. Reflection. Creativity. Reading trains all four.<\/p>\n
This is why Manitoba needs to become ambitious again about education.<\/p>\n
Premier\u00a0Wab Kinew\u00a0has discussed banning social media in schools. That conversation matters. But banning alone is not enough and may not be the answer. Children are creative and will find workarounds to almost any restriction. Children need something positive to replace the endless scroll.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the answer is surprisingly simple.<\/p>\n
Start every school day with a book.<\/p>\n
Not a tablet. Not a video. Not an AI-generated summary. A physical book.<\/p>\n
Then end the day with sports, music, clubs, physical activity or community involvement. Build rhythm, discipline and attention into childhood again.<\/p>\n
Some will immediately argue that such policies risk worsening inequality. Some children already struggle with reading. Some homes contain few books. Some students are behind academically.<\/p>\n
But does that mean we simply lower expectations for everyone?<\/p>\n
Ontario is already moving toward stricter educational expectations, including mandatory attendance and participation components attached to grades. The message is clear: showing up matters.<\/p>\n
Manitoba should be thinking the same way. We should not aim merely to avoid embarrassment on international rankings. We should aim to compete.<\/p>\n
The most recent PISA international testing results showed Manitoba students scoring below the Canadian average in reading. Canada itself has seen reading scores decline over the last decade. The trend is going in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, chronic absenteeism has become a serious issue in Manitoba schools. Thousands of students are missing large portions of the school year. When children disappear from classrooms, they do not simply fall behind in math or grammar. They often lose routine, confidence, social connection and belief in their own future.<\/p>\n
Reading is not merely an academic exercise. Reading trains concentration. It develops memory. It strengthens imagination. It teaches empathy. It forces the brain to slow down long enough to process complexity.<\/p>\n
That matters in a democracy. It matters in the workforce. It matters for civilization itself.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, some countries are already reacting against excessive screen dependency. Sweden, one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, has begun reinvesting heavily in physical books and traditional learning. The Swedish government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to place more books into classrooms and reduce screen time for younger students.<\/p>\n
They are recognizing something many parents already feel instinctively: constant digital stimulation may not actually produce stronger learners.<\/p>\n
This does not mean rejecting technology. AI will become part of everyday life. Digital tools matter. But if children cannot read deeply, analyze ideas and sustain focus, they will not control technology. Technology will control them.<\/p>\n
Perhaps schools need to become slightly old-fashioned again. More paper books. More handwriting. Fewer glowing screens competing for attention every minute of the day.<\/p>\n
There is also something cultural at stake.<\/p>\n
A child reading quietly in the morning learns patience. A teenager finishing a novel learns endurance. A student discussing ideas in a classroom learns confidence. These are not old-fashioned values. They are competitive advantages.<\/p>\n
Manitoba should think boldly. Reading challenges. Classroom libraries. Daily silent reading periods. Partnerships with publishers and libraries. Incentives for attendance. Greater expectations around participation and discipline.<\/p>\n
The goal should not simply be to survive educational decline.<\/p>\n
The goal should be excellence.<\/p>\n
Because the countries that succeed in the AI age may not simply be those with the most technology. They may be the societies still capable of producing children who can sit quietly, read deeply and think clearly.<\/p>\n
Robert-Falcon Ouellette is a former Liberal MP for Winnipeg Centre and a professor at the University of Ottawa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the 1980s and 1990s, getting children to read was already difficult. Teachers pushed books. Parents pushed books.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[25598,18379,25597,23822,25596,84],"class_list":["post-58945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-attention-span","tag-education-policy","tag-literacy-rates","tag-reading-habits","tag-screen-time","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}