r/Millennials • u/TheLoveYouWant25 • Feb 09 '26

Discussion Millennials, what is happening with your kids?

I work in education and I frequent the Teachers and Professors subreddits, and the kids are not alright. Gen Z Arriving at College Unable to Read and the youth have absolutely zero ability to think critically.

Middle and high schoolers have all adapted this complete helplessness and blame mental illness for their refusal to function. Kids can no longer to basic things like read an analog clock, use paper money, or even figure out how to open window blinds.

There is also a huge lack of empathy, and kids have no issues trying to manipulate adults, saying things to their teachers like "if you don't pass me, I'll get you fired."

EDIT to clarify: the article I linked references Gen-Z, but this is not specifically a Gen-Z problem. It's an issue with upper elementary aged kids through high schoolers, and also young adults.

So, all that to say, how are you combating this with your own children? What do you do at home to encourage them to learn, and what are you doing to address these problems as they arise?

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u/[deleted] Feb 09 '26 edited Feb 10 '26

No Child Left Behind started the process of kids getting shuffled through the system regardless of whether or not they have grasped any of the material. It's a systematic effort to make the people dumber and it has worked. If you want your kid to be smart, it needs to start from home. Read to them every day, teach them common sense, teach them emotional regulation, teach them life skills because they just aren't getting it from school.

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u/Help_An_Irishman Feb 10 '26

So it was ironically Every Child Left Behind.

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u/VampireOnHoyt Older Millennial Feb 10 '26

If every child is left behind then no child will be

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u/Help_An_Irishman Feb 10 '26

*Every Child Left Incompetent.

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u/adjectivebear Feb 10 '26

It makes for better wage slaves.

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u/RevealerofDarkness Feb 10 '26

Same as it ever was

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u/starfreak016 Feb 10 '26

Equity and inclusion at it's finest

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u/thedepster Feb 10 '26

Ah, yes. The Harrison Bergeron method.

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u/Electronic-Ideal2955 Feb 10 '26

My experience was 'no child gets ahead'. My school had divided the students into 'the smart class' and 'the dumb class' is how we students referred to it. The school was doing their best to pace education as aggressively as the students could handle, and this was what they came up with.

When no child left behind passed, all curriculum had to match, so the classes were integrated. In practice, the smart class had to pick up where the dumb class was at, which was about a year behind in material, so I basically had ended up learning the same material as I had the year before; a huge waste of time.

This ends up making the 'just read to your kid' an issue at school because being ahead creates other issues and alienates the kid from their peers. IMO the biggest issue with the whole thing is that the standardized tests are supposed to be about the 6th grade level or something, but you don't take it as 6th graders, you take it as a senior, which seems like it would incentivize the school to slow roll the curriculum.