33 Disturbing Stories Told By Educators Exposing Alpha Gens' Total Lack Of Basic Life Skills

Only 27% of the incoming 6th graders at the local middle school are proficient in math skills. Also, next to zero problem solving skills or critical thinking skills, like a “do it for me” or “I’m just not doing that 🤷‍♀️” mindset for school work. You can turn in zero work for a class and get passed through. We don’t require motivation anymore. Edit to add: for reference on how disturbing the math percentage is: 6th grade math skills would include basic work with fractions, finding averages of a group of numbers, reading a graph or chart, basic decimal operations, finding percents, etc. We give multiplication charts now instead of memorizing your basic multiplication facts.

One of my ex's had an 11 year old daughter that couldn't read. I was flabbergasted when she went to the bathroom then asked which was the hand sanitizer and which was the hand soap. They were both in their original labeled bottles...

During a project week we had a first grader who could barely speak our national language, barely his mother tongue but he spoke in memes like a pro.

Lack of critical thinking and reasoning skills is the big one for me. And a lack of curiosity in the world around them.
Parroting memes is the worst I think though. It seems to really k**l any imagination that kids used to have.

I teach college. The number of students that can't compose a basic research paper is depressing. I had one student research a company but the company's name changed a few years prior. Clearly she was plagiarising from an earlier student's paper. I told her over and over, company A is now called company B; by calling it company A it is clear that you have not even visited the company's current website (a requirement for the paper). She ignored me and stuck with calling it company A and failed.

I work for a school transportation department and when I'm not in the office, I'm a "permanent substitute" who fills in for absent bus drivers. Each bus is parked in the same "lane" at the schools every single day, regardless of who is driving. Most students walk up to the bus and if they see it isn't their regular driver, they look around in horror and start wandering around aimlessly. I tell them every time it will be in the same lane regardless of driver, but I can drive the same route once or twice every week and the same clueless kids will back up and wander around every time. If the rare observant kid doesn't intercept them and redirect, dismissal gets held up while administrators search for the right bus. It doesn't help that many of them don't know their address or subdivision. High school is the worst about it! I have done this for 11 years and it gets worse every single year - and I drive for some of the top academic schools in the state.

I'm not a teacher but a former janitor, and all I can say is urine and feces EVERYWHERE!!!

Not in my class but JUST YESTERDAY we were at a coffee shop and two of the girls didn’t recognize a quarter. One asked the other, “is this a nickel? Wait, is a nickel only 5 cents?” Then tried to flag us down for stiffing them and I said, “a quarter is 25 cents.” How did they get the job as cashiers? We’re doomed.

Gen Z + not a teacher

sometimes i'm absolutely baffled by the lack of reading comprehension, work ethic and critical thinking skill among my own peers. how in god's green earth is it getting worse?

We had a kid who didn’t know that deserts were dry.

Also hardly any of them know the difference between vowels and consonants. Thanks, Lucy Calkins!

I always think these stories are exaggerated, but I teach private piano lessons and had a 9/10yo girl a few months back who admitted that she couldn’t read her (very basic) beginner level music theory book, nor could she write very well. First time I’ve seen it in person after decades of teaching.

Not a teacher but several people in my family are primary school teachers and teacher's assistants.

Most recent story i was told: for children's day, my cousin made bracelets to give to her 3rd grade class with a frase "happy children's day". A few of the kids couldn't read it.

She can't force the kids to learn bc the parents complain that she is abusing the kids by trying to teach them.

Not a teacher but when I was at trade school for my electrical certification the amount of high schoolers who came straight into trade school and couldn't do basic math or read the provided work books and retain the most basic info was insane.

By the end of the first semester 50% of them couldn't tell you what voltage even was, and 80% couldn't calculate voltage and current or resistance (it's literally a formula V=IR that you just plug the numbers into and get the answer)

The second semester left us with a class of 3 high schoolers who had good heads on them and the rest were like me 25-40 year olds who were changing careers.