A Philadelphia high school student who goes by the name “Whatthevek” on social media recently recorded his friends as they attempted to comprehend basic English.
The videos showed the creator’s fellow students at the Preparatory Charter School of Mathematics, Science, Technology, and Careers failing to read a few simple sentences.
Highlights
- A high school student recently exposed his school friends’ subpar reading skills in videos posted on social media.
- The videos showed the students trying to read three English sentences and struggling with several words.
- The videos come amid accounts of a widespread reading and literacy crisis, reported both by school teachers and U.S. literacy surveys.
The posts, shared on Instagram and TikTok, racked up more than 1.7 million likes and thousands of comments.
“This is terrifying,” a user responded. “These are gonna be our future doctors and lawyers.”
School allegedly threatened to expel a student for exposing his schoolmates’ poor reading skills
Image credits: whatthevek
In the first video, posted on April 27, the creator approached several kids and asked them to read the sentence, “She wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche.”
The students had difficulty pronouncing the words “silhouette,” “extraordinary,” and “gauche.”
In a follow-up post, shared a day later, he asked students to read, “The colonel asked the choir to accommodate the governor’s schedule.”
Image credits: whatthevek
While the kids found the second sentence comparatively easier to read, they struggled to comprehend and explain its meaning in their own words.
After the second video, the creator revealed that he was facing ultimatums from the school authorities over his posts.
“I would post a part three, but the school board is trying to expel me, stop me from going to prom, and stop me from walking at graduation,” he wrote. “I don’t know, chat.”
However, he did share a third video in which he got the students to read, “The behemoth eviscerated its victims in the depths of the labyrinth.”
This time, about four kids could read and comprehend the sentence, but the rest struggled with “behemoth,” “eviscerated,” and “labyrinth.”
Netizens showed concern for the students, blaming the education system for “failing” them
The videos greatly worried internet users, with many calling out the school and the education system for letting the kids down. Some also blamed the parents for not ensuring their children were better readers.
“The education system is failing kids,” one user said.
“Bring back popcorn reading in class!” another wrote. “Embarrassment is a great motivator.”
Image credits: N M Giovannucci
A third commented, “Do parents not make their kids read over the summer anymore?”
“Cancel graduation, cancel prom, cancel spring break, cancel summer break, cancel birthdays, cancel holidays, cancel the weekends,” a fourth voice said.
“English is my second language, and I read this immediately,” one individual chimed in.
“Stop blaming the teachers and the school boards, etc,” said one more. “We need to take more responsibility for our children’s education.”
Image credits: whatthevek
Some educators also weighed in, noting that their experiences with schoolchildren have been similar.
“As a former English teacher… This is what happens when schools stop reading full books and variations of books as part of the curriculum,” one user said. “Kiddos aren’t exposed to a range of vocabulary.”
School teachers have reported a steady decline in student literacy
Image credits: whatthevek
For the last several years, teachers in the USA have expressed concern about a significant drop in literacy among school students, with many lacking the ability to read and comprehend.
Some teachers have even quit their jobs out of frustration.
This crisis is largely attributed to a combination of a lack of phonics foundation, excessive screen time that replaces reading, the absence of parental involvement, and pandemic-related learning gaps.
Children were also reported to have reduced reading stamina and attention spans due to the prevalence of short-form video content such as TikToks and Instagram Reels.
Image credits: freepik (not an actual photo)
“I have been teaching middle school for 11 years, and even in that time, I noticed the same decline. They cannot read a clock, cannot find information on a four-sentence Google Slide, and will not read or follow directions,” a teacher said on social media in 2025.
Many educators have also complained that elementary students have become incapable of tying their shoelaces, fixing inside-out sleeves, opening car doors, or spelling out their names and addresses.
Image credits: Gustavo Fring/pexels (not an actual photo)
A June 2025 report by the National Literacy Trust announced a pan-American reading crisis, with the percentage of children reading at its lowest in 20 years.
“Just 1 in 3 (32.7%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they enjoyed reading in their free time,” the survey said. “This marks a 36% decrease in reading enjoyment levels since we started asking about this in 2005.”
A 2026 YouGov survey for Renaissance found 64% of teachers believe children "lack motivation" to read, with 74% citing poor concentration as a major challenge.
This survey also indicated a “reading crisis” fueled by excessive screen time (86%) and insufficient support at home (82%).
"This isn't funny at all." Netizens were concerned after the high schooler exposed his friends' subpar reading skills
