"Six weeks into the term, I assigned my rhetoric and writing students a 20-page article. It was the same length I had assigned for five years and the same length I had read without complaint as an undergraduate a decade ago. Not one student finished it.
When I asked why, a student answered honestly: It was too long, and she kept losing track of what the paper was about. This was not a remedial class: These were students who had cleared the admissions process and written essays good enough to get them here. Yet a routine academic reading assignment had defeated them.
Every generation of professors has complained that their students cannot read. The lament is usually overblown, but data have caught up to anecdote, and what I am seeing in my classroom is no longer a hunch. There is a measurable, generational collapse in sustained reading and writing, and the academy is responding to it with improvisation and exhaustion rather than the structural overhaul it requires.
In February 2024, Adam Kotsko, who teaches in the Shimer Great Books School at North Central College, wrote in Slate that students who once handled 30 pages of reading per class meeting now seem âintimidated by anything over 10 pages and seem to walk away from readings of as little as 20 pages with no real understanding.â Crucially, he added that this is ânot a matter of laziness on the part of the studentsâ but of underlying skills they were never given a chance to build.
The Chronicle of Higher Educationâs 2024 investigation found the same pattern across institutions as different as the Stevens Institute of Technology and Wellesley College, where the average SAT exceeds 1400. Nicholaus Gutierrez, an assistant professor at Wellesley, told The Chronicle that the baseline for what students consider a reasonable amount of work has dropped so noticeably that he has cut his readings accordingly; a 750-word essay now strikes many students as long. At Stevens, the science and technology studies associate professor Theresa MacPhail described following the mantra of âmeet your students where they areâ for so long that she has begun to feel âlike a cruise director organizing games of shuffleboard.â
Worse, the national data tell the same story in colder language. On the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment, which is the most recent comprehensive writing benchmark, only 24 percent of 12th graders reached the Proficient level, and just 3 percent reached Advanced; another 21 percent scored below Basic. The reading side of the ledger is worse, and getting worse fast: The 2024 NAEP results released in September 2025 show 12th-grade reading scores at the lowest level recorded since the assessment began in 1992. Thirty-two percent of 12th graders now score below NAEP Basic in reading, meaning that, in the assessmentâs own language, they likely âcannot draw general conclusions based on concepts presented explicitly in a text.â And yet more than half of these same seniors reported being accepted to a four-year college. That last sentence is the whole problem in one line: We are admitting a cohort that cannot read at a college level and are pretending otherwise.
Why is this happening? One reason, of course, is smartphones.
I came into teaching as a skeptic of the anti-smartphone argument: I had a phone in my pocket throughout high school and college in the 2010s, and I read long books anyway. I now think I was wrong, because the neuroscience has caught up. In a 2017 paper, Adrian F. Ward and colleagues at the University of Texas at Austinâs McCombs School of Business showed that the mere presence of a participantâs smartphone â whether that be face down, powered off, untouched, or across the desk out of vision â measurably reduces available working memory and fluid intelligence on cognitive tests, with the largest effects on the most phone-dependent users. A 2022 study by Motoyasu Honma and colleagues at Japanâs Showa University used near-infrared spectroscopy to compare reading on a smartphone with reading the same passage on paper, and found that smartphone reading produced overactivity in the prefrontal cortex, suppressed sigh generation, and led to general lower comprehension scores; the authors argued that the sigh inhibition and prefrontal overload were causally linked to the comprehension decline.
So when a student tells me they âkept losing trackâ of a 20-page article, I have to acknowledge that they may be describing a measurable neurological condition. The neural pathways that support sustained attention are built by use, and they atrophy without it. Your body is a use-it-or-lose-it system, and the brain is no exception.
Another reason for the decline in student reading capability is increasing reliance on generative AI. In June 2025, Nataliya Kosmyna and colleagues at the MIT Media Lab released a preprint titled âYour Brain on ChatGPT.â They divided 54 participants into three groups writing SAT-style essays â one using ChatGPT, the second group using a search engine, the last group using nothing â and monitored brain activity with a 32-channel EEG. The ChatGPT group showed the lowest neural connectivity of the three, with up to 55 percent reduced connectivity compared with the brain-only group, and âconsistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.â Eighty-three percent of LLM users could not quote a single line from essays they had written minutes earlier. When the LLM group was forced to write without AI in a follow-up session, their brain activity did not bounce back to baseline; the researchers coined the term âcognitive debtâ for the lingering deficit.
This is the first neurophysiological evidence that early reliance on LLMs measurably alters the brainâs engagement with writing tasks, and it is consistent with what those of us in front of classrooms are watching happen in real time. When I assign analysis, I am not trying to extract a polished product; I am trying to put the studentâs mind through resistance in order to make it stronger. Offloading the struggle to a chatbot does not âfree students up for higher-order work.â It deprives them of building the strength to do any substantial cognitive work at all.
There is a final factor that is contributing to this decline in reading skills, and that is that the students arriving in my classroom today are the first cohort to have experienced Common Core-influenced reading instruction across the entirety of their Kâ12 schooling. Whatever the standardsâ original intent, the on-the-ground implementation in many districts replaced sustained reading with the practice of pulling âevidenceâ from disconnected short passages, the same format used on the standardized tests that increasingly determine school funding. The education scholar Natalie Wexler, among others, has documented this pivot in detail: Students drilled on âfinding the main ideaâ in two-paragraph excerpts never build the stamina or background knowledge that longform reading requires. The pandemic then added fuel to a fire that was already burning. NAEP scores for 13-year-olds dropped sharply in 2022 and have not recovered. A 2023 EdWeek survey found that 24 percent of secondary-school administrators described pandemic learning loss in English and language arts as âsevere or very severe.â
In July 2025, the journalist Mary Harrington argued in The New York Times that âthinking is becoming a luxury good.â The ability to read deeply and reason at length is fragmenting along class lines as ultra-processed digital media replaces text in everyday life, much as ultra-processed food has replaced cooking. Her longer treatment of the subject in First Things makes the more provocative case that we are witnessing the end of print culture itself, and with it the end of the cognitive substrate on which modern liberal democracy was built.
I see this stratification in the classroom and on the page every week. My students from districts that protected sustained reading through small class sizes, strict phone policies, and faculty who refused to teach to the test all arrive with their attention relatively intact. My students from districts that surrendered to devices and standardized testing arrive cognitively winded. A democracy that requires a literate electorate is now training one fraction of that electorate out of literacy while marketing to the other a âdeep workâ lifestyle as a luxury good. The students who cannot read a 20-page article today are the voters who will not be able to read a bill, or the jurors who cannot follow a closing argument, tomorrow.
I do what I can in my own classroom to address the problems. I break 20-page articles into two halves and assign the first half with explicit analytical tasks. I require exploratory writing before formal drafts. I model (visibly, on the board) how to track an argument across pages or distinguish a sourceâs claim from my own analysis. I make structured peer review explicit, because the workshop format I used to take for granted now collapses into âthis is goodâ and âmaybe add more detailsâ the moment I step back.
But I want to be plain about the limits of what an individual instructor can do, and all of these solutions have costs. Scaffolding a 20-page article into halves compromises the integrity of the argument I am asking students to engage, just as modeling note-taking in a credit-bearing rhetoric course is using a college slot to teach a middle-school skill. None of the syllabi I teach are designed to deliver this type of cognitive rehabilitation, and pretending otherwise has produced credential inflation. We cannot keep conferring degrees on students who cannot do what the degree is supposed to certify.
Iâm afraid I donât have answers. I do, however, have some questions that may point us in the right direction. If higher education is going to respond to the reading crisis as a structural problem rather than a private burden carried by composition instructors and adjuncts, it has to stop avoiding the following questions: If a majority of incoming students cannot read at a level the curriculum requires, are we admitting students we cannot serve, or offering a curriculum we cannot provide?
Why are first-year writing and reading-intensive general-education courses still the most adjunctified, lowest-paid, highest-load corner of the university, at the precise moment when their work has become the most important work the institution does? What is the responsible institutional response for AI usage: Is it a syllabus statement, or a sequencing principle that requires students to demonstrate the cognitive work themselves before AI assistance is permitted?
Why are most college classrooms still phone-permissive by default? Kâ12 districts from Florida to California are now banning phones bell to bell; higher education has somehow lagged behind the public schools. Universities benefit from a pipeline they did not build and refuse to repair. What would it mean for a university system to invest seriously in the reading instruction happening in the high schools that feed it, rather than treating remediation as something to be quietly outsourced to first-year composition instructors?
The thing I am no longer willing to do is pretend this is a temporary adjustment period, or that âstudents will adapt.â They will not adapt on their own. The conditions that produced this collapse are still in place: the phones, the algorithmic feeds, the test-prep excerpts, staffing models that load the reading-intensive work onto the most precarious faculty, and now the chatbots that finish studentsâ sentences before theyâve even begun to think of them. If we want literate citizens, we will have to rebuild the conditions for literacy deliberately, against the grain of every incentive currently pointed the other way. I know the academy has the will to do that. It also has the obligation."
â Tyler Jagt, 1 June 2026, "My Students Canât Read"
The generational collapse in literacy is measurable, persistent, and likely to get worse.
did the reddit post about the guy who was mad because his mail order bride's eastern european family lied to him and told him it was a custom in their country for the groom to gift the bride's whole family pelotons actually happen or was that just a vivid dream
If you use an e-reader and want to immerse yourself in the classics of literature that are in the public domain, I highly recommend doing so via Standard E-Books
https://standardebooks.org/
Unlike the free e-books you may have downloaded from Amazon or other marketplaces that are full of formatting errors and typos, these are meticulously corrected and use all the proper typographical marks.
one thing i love so much about noroi is that, unlike a lot of horror mysteries, thereâs never a moment when the characters figure out how the threat works. thereâs no moment where they use what theyâve learned to earn a victory or even fully put the pieces together. thereâs never a single moment where it feels like theyâre in control. the one thing they learn that feels like it might help them, the ritual, they donât even really know what it DOES. itâs just the only thing that they think could possibly stop the curse, and they have no other options. for all they know it might make things worse, but they try it anyway because thereâs absolutely nothing else they can do.
and that scene is SO tense. the whole movie is so tense, and even as the movie progresses and some of the pieces of the mystery start to connect, it never feels like the danger is lessening. every new piece of information just reveals more questions and more danger. and even once all the pieces are put together, we donât have the full picture. kobayashi sacrifices everything to find the truth, only to barely scratch the surface of something so unfathomable and dangerous, it might have been better not to know anything.
btw iâm purposefully keeping this vague because i want everyone who sees this to watch this movie for themselves.
Proudly Present- Unfriened: The Movie: with me Jory
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zyTYZqZ9RYPMTyeWsY1wPDvnJX5hRrqO/view?usp=sharing
Available for download!
twice now in the past week i have successfully staved off the desire to order chinese by way of this simple cabbage recipe which embodies most of the things i am usually seeking in terms of flavor and vibe from the chinese restaurant (esp when paired with freezer dumplings or buns i can toss in the steamer but also i have just done chx strips on rice with it) and now i recommend it to you all
My Chinese Sauteed Cabbage is a quick and satisfying veggie dish for any occasion. The cabbage is tender and slightly sweet, while the vineg
Need a last minute holiday gift for your cat? I bet theyâd enjoy some dried pasta!
Storytime: The best part about this video was when I went to the supermarket to purchase the pasta. I was looking for a specific size and an employee was restocking the shelves. He asked if I needed something in particular and I said I needed to find the right shape. He gave me a box and said âthese are the best onesâ. I told him, âOh no no, I donât intend to eat them. This shapeâs just for my cats to play withâ. He laughed and said it was the first time he heard anyone say that. đš
looking at any kind of trans supplies focused online shop is depressing because there will either be a complete absence of anything for transfems or like. a really sad transfem section with 5 items at the end of a list full of binders and packers and harnesses
thebreastformstore.com For breastforms + care, shapewear, wigs, shoes and jewlery
enfemmestyle.com For clothing, breastforms + care, shapewear, tucking and wigs
translife.uk For clothing, cosmetics, breastforms and tucking.
I get the frustration, but ultimately if you want stores that do sell things specifically for trans feminine people, searching for them and sharing them is the way to go.
If you are looking for lingerie style bras for a flat chest, those are marketed towards cis woman, who had cancer related breast reduction surgery.
And I get that it is frustrating that a lot of these thing are also marketed towards crossdressers, but the reason for this is the same as to why a lot of binders are marketed as "sports bras": sellers put every (vaguely) related term into their website in the hopes of selling to more people. Which obviously isn't great either, but at least I can better tolerate it, knowing it is marketing bullshit and not misgendering me for the sake of it.
Been a long time since I did the legwork of finding places but here's all my bookmarked lingerie brands that make lingerie for transfems and have transfem models.
Carmen Liu Lingerie - trans woman owned lingerie company that makes bras and panties specifically for transfems, also has plain cotton kids' underwear.
Juniper & Eve - cis woman owned from what I can tell but her starting point with the company was "make lingerie for a trans woman friend" and underwear types are sorted by style (flat front, gaff, or pouch front) rather than by gender.
Origami Customs - I kind of think of OC as more transmasc-focused but since I last checked their site they've added the option to select gusset width on non-gaff undies which I'm pleasantly surprised by. They also do custom sizing at no extra cost.
TomboyX also does breastform bras and tucking panties now but idk anyone who wears them so I can't comment on that specirfically. Just buying their underwear over the years I feel that the quality has dropped off while the prices have doubled. I get stuff on sale only. YMMV.
I wanted to add on my small local store, the Tool Shed. They carry breast forms, compatible bras, gaff underwear, shapewear, some accessories like adhesive tape and wash, and dilators and lube. They also have a TONNN of books for sale (I checked and the "books and media" section for trans and intersex topics has 279 items)!
The above link is for their trans focused site, but they also have a larger collection here that includes all their trans products along with regular sex toys (and even MORE books.)
while these are strong resources, the majority of these links have yet to offer transfem specific sex toys which is what the original post is about. i know transmasc specific sex toys exist mostly to accommodate tdicks (i checked the site and the majority of what is listed for transmascs are strokers, pumps, and packers). i am having trouble finding transfem specific sex toys listed myself. however i found the following resources:
allure's 23 amazing sex toys for transfems: offers toy options to alleviate bottom dysphoria, help maintain erections, and for those who are post op (dilators, lube, clit toys). also recommends some books.
the trans woman's guide to sex toys: written by a trans woman, specifically offers guidance and recommendations for transfems who are post op.
cute little fuckers: makes no mention of transmasc vs transfem specific toys but is designed by and for trans people. the toys come in unique shapes and sizes so they can be used creatively by anyone with any genitalia, definitely had trans genitalia in mind of course.
susan's place transgender resources: this is just a forum where somebody is asking for recommendations for their trans girlfriend with bottom dysphoria. lots of good recommendations from other transfems here, but also this post is from 2014 so some information may be outdated
cashmere mag: more sex toy recommendations for transfems.
sex toys for micropenises and "neo"vaginas: sex toys designed for those with small/"micro" penises (trans men on t with enlarged clits, trans women on e with smaller penises), and for trans women with vaginoplasty (toys that accommodate lack of natural lubricants and the need to dilate, essentially).
after a lot of digging it looks like there aren't a lot of sex toys out there designed specifically for transfems in mind :(( which really sucks because theres a lot of potential there. please add on if you find any!
[ID: two screenshots from the same online store for trans friendly toys. The first photo for trans masc toys reads: âTrans masc sex toys are expertly designed for trans, non-binary bodies, and gender diverse folk including strokers, pumps, suckers and more.â The second photo for trans femme toys reads: âThe truth is that there are not really any toys made specifically for trans women, so what you will find here are toys (and accessories) that our staff and clients have told us work for their bodies and make them feel affirmed. If there are toys that you think belong in this category please let us know. lf you need helping finding a toy for you, we'd also love to hear from you! info (at) early 2bed (dot) comâ END ID]
Iâve said this before and Iâll say it again but it is absolutely an example of civilizational inadequacy that only deaf people know ASL
âoh we shouldnât teach children this language, it will only come in handy if they [checks notes] ever have to talk in a situation where itâs noisy or they need to be quietâ
My family went holiday SCUBA diving once, and a couple of Deaf guys were in the group. I was really little and I spent most of the briefing overcome with the realization that while the rest of us were going to have regulators in our mouths and be underwater fairly soon, they were going to be able to do all the same stuff and keep talking.
Update: you guys this is an amazing resource for learning asl. Bill Vicars is an incredible teacher. His videos are of him teaching a student in a classroom, using the learned vocabulary to have conversations.
Not only is the conversation format immersive and helpful for learning the grammar, but the students make common mistakes which he corrects, mistakes I wouldnât have otherwise know I was making.
He also emphasizes learning ASL in the way itâs actually used by the Deaf community and not the rigid structure that some ASL teachers impose in their classrooms
His lesson plans include learning about the Deaf community, which is an important aspect of learning ASL. Knowing how to communicate in ASL without the knowledge of the culture behind it leaves out a lot of nuances and explanations for the way ASL is.
Lastly, his lessons are just a lot of fun to watch. He is patient, entertaining, and funny. This good natured enthusiasm is contagious and learning feels like a privilege and not a chore
And itâs all FREE. Seriously. If youâve ever wanted to learn ASL
i know this means absolutely nothing to most people but basically all of the little web game things I've made recently (angels in automata, hex plant growing game, d.a.n.m.a.k.u., life music, sudoku land, the metroidvania style map editor, etc etc etc) are all entirely self-contained individual client-side html files that can be downloaded and run offline and have literally no libraries or frameworks or dependencies, because i'm an insane woman who enjoys hand coding my input handling and display code from scratch in vanilla js and having it all live in one single html file with the game logic and the page structure and the page style all just living and loving together side by side in a universal format that can be run by any web browser on any devixe. i'll even include image files as base64 data-uri strings just to keep every single asset inside the one file.
this is going Around again and it is always funny to me when ppl tag it "need to try this later on my computer" babes you don't need to wait they all work on mobile too <3
stormborns
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
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izzy806
germansingergirl
