Just like writing cursive, it seems that reading an old-school analog clock is the sort of skill that has fallen by the wayside in our smartphone age. That lapse was revealed when NYC public schools instituted a smartphone ban. The education department says students are taught to read a clock in first and second grade, but if it’s not a skill they’re using regularly, it could atrophy. According to Gothamist:
Kris Perry, executive director of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, said it makes sense that teens who have grown up in a fully digital environment haven’t had to practice analog clock-reading. She said the question is whether the shift amounts to a “a cognitive downgrade or just a replacement.”
She noted that brain scans have shown that holding books and handwriting generally lead to more brain activity than reading and typing on screens.
