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When you think about a new generation taking center stage, you generally think they’re going to be smarter than those who came before them. After all, they have the advantage of greater scientific and technological advancements, coupled with the benefit of more history to learn from.

Unfortunately for Gen Z, this doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference. According to the Daily Mail’s U.S. Assistant Science Editor Chris Melore, Gen Z is actually the first generation to ever be considered less intelligent than their parents since scientists began tracking cognitive skills in the late 1800s. The worst part is the very technology that’s supposed to be helping them might actually be holding them back.

One neuroscientist believes that the use of technology in education is what’s making it hard for Gen Z to keep up.

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath is a former teacher who now works as a neuroscientist, so he understands the education system well, and he thinks it’s failing kids today. He recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, saying that EdTech is what is stunting kids’ cognitive growth.

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EdTech, short for educational technology, is what we’re all used to seeing in schools today. Gone are the days of flipping through an encyclopedia to verify a historical fact or solving math problems as a group. Instead, EdTech allows kids to learn in a way similar to how they already consume media online, with short videos that summarize more intricate concepts.

“What do kids do on computers?” Horvath asked. “They skim. So rather than determining what do we want our children to do and gearing education towards that, we are redefining education to better suit the tool. That’s not progress, that is surrender.”

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The neuroscientist thinks the decline in learning started in 2010.

That’s when he estimated that schools began using technology in full force. Of course, teachers have used computers for a very long time now, and smart boards in the classroom are nothing new. But now every student has a laptop and a tablet to use for their studies.

“The answer appears to be the tools we are using within schools to drive that learning,” Horvath said. “If you look at the data, once countries adopt digital technology widely in schools, performance goes down significantly.”

Horvath argued that although technology is pervasive and inescapable in our society, it was never meant to be the primary means of learning. Humans learn best by interacting with others, not by looking at a screen, which can actually interfere with learning.

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Teenagers are constantly using technology, so it would stand to reason that they need a break at school.

The CDC reported that 50.4% of teenagers get at least four hours of screen time a day, if not more. This supports a claim that Horvath made in a conversation with the New York Post. He said, “More than half of the time a teenager is awake, half of it is spent staring at a screen.”

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In a study published in Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, researchers said that this exposure to technology produces a bit of a mixed bag. “Potential harmful effects of extensive screen time and technology use include heightened attention-deficit symptoms, impaired emotional and social intelligence, technology addiction, social isolation, impaired brain development, and disrupted sleep,” they said. “However, various apps, video games, and other online tools may benefit brain health.”

It’s easy to assume that having so much knowledge at your fingertips makes you smarter, and it certainly is beneficial in many ways. But constantly staring at your phone has consequences, as does modeling learning after the way you take in information using that phone. We were never meant to learn from a bulleted list of main points instead of an original text, and now young people are suffering because of it.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.