It's because they are pandemic kids. Schools refused to adapt to the fact that the kids basically lost 2 years of education. Instead of giving the 5th graders 3rd grade materials, they just let the kids who lacked foundation fall further and further behind. It impacted every grade level, but the ones who were younger were the worst impacted. Research shows if you're behind on reading in 3rd grade, you'll probably be behind for the rest of your time in school.

I understand the outrage behind it, but more often than not when the argument is going on the internet, it's simply people without children hating on parents.

I focus on my own child and their achievements in reading, writing, and comprehension and let the critics words fall on deaf ears personally. It's entirely possible and more common than you'd think to allow children access to screens and still have them receive a quality education.

Yep I totally get it. Covid didn’t help these kids either.

In the US, it’s a huge multi-faceted problem. We’ve successfully undermined our teachers at almost every step of the way. We guarantee zero parental leave and protections when parents have children. It’s very difficult to have a family without both parents working. There’s many reasons why kids are not performing at university levels when they get there.

I can’t get worked up about it the way the internet always seems to get its panties in a bunch about it. I make sure my child is ready for the next step in their education and ignore the discourse.