In 2002, Angus King, then governor of Maine, launched the nation’s first statewide laptop program for certain grade levels, aiming to give students broad access to the internet and digital information.

By that fall, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative had distributed 17,000 Apple laptops to seventh graders across 243 middle schools.

By 2016, the number of devices distributed to students in the state had risen to 66,000 laptops and tablets.

Similar initiatives later spread nationwide, culminating in more than $30 billion spent in 2024 on classroom laptops and tablets.

However, more than two decades after Maine’s rollout, some experts argue the results have diverged from the original goal of improving educational outcomes.

Earlier this year, in written testimony before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath said Gen Z is less cognitively capable than previous generations despite unprecedented access to digital tools.

He said Gen Z is the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardized tests than the generation before it.

While standardized assessments measuring literacy and numeracy do not directly measure intelligence, Horvath said they reflect cognitive capability, which he described as declining over roughly the past decade.

Citing data from the Program for International Student Assessment and other standardized tests of 15-year-olds worldwide, Horvath pointed to falling scores and a correlation between increased classroom screen time and weaker academic performance.

He attributed the trend to widespread and unrestricted access to technology in schools, which he said has diminished rather than strengthened learning capacity, adding that the 2007 introduction of the iPhone compounded the issue.

“This is not a debate about rejecting technology,” Horvath wrote. “It is a question of aligning educational tools with how human learning actually works. Evidence indicates that indiscriminate digital expansion has weakened learning environments rather than strengthened them.”

Earlier concerns had surfaced in Maine.

In 2017, Fortune reported that the state’s public school test scores had not improved during the 15 years following the launch of its technology initiative.

Then-Governor Paul LePage called the program a “massive failure,” even as Maine continued funding contracts with Apple.

Meanwhile, broader technological shifts are also reshaping the labor market.

A study published last year by Stanford University found that advances in generative artificial intelligence had a “significant and disproportionate impact on entry-level workers in the US labor market.”

Horvath warned that declining cognitive skills could carry consequences beyond employment prospects.

“We’re facing challenges more complex and far-reaching than any in human history—from overpopulation to evolving diseases to moral drift,” he told Fortune. “Now, more than ever, we need a generation able to grapple with nuance, hold multiple truths in tension, and creatively tackle problems that are stumping the greatest adult minds of today.”

More broadly, classroom technology use has expanded rapidly.

A 2021 EdWeek Research Center poll of 846 teachers found that 55% reported using educational technology for one to four hours per day, while another quarter said they used such tools for five hours daily.

However, a 2014 study surveying and observing 3,000 university students found they spent nearly two-thirds of their computer time on non-academic activities.

Horvath said such off-task behavior undermines learning, noting that interruptions require time to regain focus and that task-switching is associated with weaker memory formation and higher error rates.

“Unfortunately, ease has never been a defining characteristic of learning,” he said. “Learning is effortful, difficult, and oftentimes uncomfortable. But it’s the friction that makes learning deep and transferable into the future.”

Other researchers have raised similar concerns.

Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University and author of “10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World,” said extended screen time can be counterproductive.

“Many apps, including social media and gaming apps, are designed to be addictive,” Twenge told Fortune. “Their business model is based on users spending the most time possible on the apps, and checking back as frequently as possible.”

A study led by Baylor University and published in November 2025 found that TikTok required less effort to use than Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts by combining relevant videos with unexpected content.

Concerns over social media use have prompted legal action.

More than 1,600 plaintiffs representing 350 families and 250 school districts filed lawsuits alleging that Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube created addictive platforms that contributed to mental health challenges, including depression and self-harm, among children.

In response to such concerns, Horvath proposed policy changes focused on classroom technology.

He suggested Congress could establish efficacy standards to fund research into which digital tools are effective for learning and require stricter limits on tracking, profiling and data collection involving minors.

Some states have already imposed restrictions.

As of August 2025, 17 states had banned cellphone use during instructional time, while 35 states had enacted laws limiting classroom phone use.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than 75% of schools report policies prohibiting cellphone use for non-academic purposes, though enforcement varies.

Ultimately, Horvath described the decline in critical thinking and learning skills as a policy failure rather than an individual one, calling students educated primarily with digital devices victims of a flawed educational experiment.

“Whenever I work with teenagers I tell them, ‘This is not your fault. None of you asked to be sat in front of a computer for your entire K-12 schooling,’” Horvath said. “That means we…screwed up—and I genuinely hope Gen Z quickly figures that out and gets mad.”