ok so we all know there is an education + literacy and general education problem in younger generations, especially in america. but im honestly REALLY done with seeing the only people talking about it being random adults, a lot of whom i've seen are random commentary youtubers who aren't from america???
look. do your commentary. but now I'M going to comment on the issue as an american high schooler who spent 10 years in public school (before transferring to the private school i'm at now) because i have spent a decade of my life in the same classrooms as all the people showing up in these commentary videos.
when i was a freshman in high school, what i saw was 1) curriculum that was dumbed down so it could, presumably, be passed by the kids who would struggle the most in the class and 2) 35+ kids per one teacher classroom, meaning that even this simpler curriculum could not be taught to the kids who needed extra help.
i'm a good student. i think the fact that i got into private school and have been succeeding with As and the occasional B+ the whole time is evidence enough for that. my math teacher started asking me to help and teach other kids at my table - she specifically formulated our seating chart so i was sitting with kids who needed extra help so i could help them - after i finished my own work. and yes, i understand that she was overwhelmed. but as much as i liked that teacher, that also was not my job! i did not come to school as a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD to teach a guy who threw tantrums because he didn't understand his work and a girl who didn't barely spoke english and for some reason wasn't given a teaching assistant to help her! it was not my fucking job to come into math class and help other people. it was my job to come into math class and learn. and i like helping people, i do. but it should be my choice. it should not be my responsibility. my responsibility at school is to LEARN.
my freshman year of high school made my mental health worsen significantly and very quickly. i was constantly angry, depressed, exhausted, and had daily problems with suicidal ideation. all caused by my school. because i was constantly surrounded by people who didn't want to work, who argued with and disrespected teachers, who didn't understand basic concepts across core subjects, who couldn't even ace a test they got to use google on. at my new school, these problems cleared up, and my mental health improved. you know what else changed? it never became my responsibility to teach my peers our course material. if i ever help anybody, it is MY choice.
so, yes, there are problems because curriculum has been "dumbed down" to not leave any kid behind. but it's also a problem of overwhelmed teachers and students genuinely being fucked over not only by the system but by their own teachers because said teachers have too many students and too much work to do their jobs.
anyway. i just wanted to give my two cents as someone who has experienced this issue everybody is talking about. yeah, it fucking sucks. i am really blessed that my family is privileged enough to send me to a private school (and, y'know, lucky that somehow none of this effected me? i do have a few theories as to why, but that's not the point of this post, so i guess if anybody cares about reasons i think my classmates and i are more successful i will post that as its own thing).