“It’s scaring me”: 8th grade teacher says just 2 out of 110 students can read at grade level
An eighth-grade history teacher in Dallas, Texas, says only two of her 110 students can read at grade level, a revelation that’s reigniting fears about literacy and screen culture.
In a widely shared TikTok from Dec. 3, 2025, Ms. L broke down her students' reading abilities and warns that the issue goes beyond comprehension.
She explained how 18 of her students are only capable of reading at a kindergarten level, and nearly half of her students read between second and fourth grade levels.
With only two students reading at grade level, she worried that students unlikely to catch up are left at a major disadvantage that goes beyond literacy and indicates a lack of basic cognitive function.
“It's not just literacy, and it's not just lack of content knowledge," she said in a TikTok video with over one million views. "It's not just critical thinking skills—It's basic thinking skills,”
“It’s scaring me a little. I see it every single day.”
The video resonated with people on social media who worry for students’ futures as young people come up surrounded by screens and short-form video, affected by setbacks to learning and socialization caused by COVID lockdowns.
Many echoed Ms. L’s concern that the inability to read is a harbinger of troubling cognitive deficiencies to come as students fail to meet grade-level proficiency marks.
“They didn't think anything. These kids have a frightening ability for information to go from their eyes to their hands and not pass through the brain at all,” she said. “What do we do, y'all? That ship is sailing across the ocean and there is no one at the wheel.”
According to 2024-2025 data from the Nation's Report Card (NAEP), 8th grade reading stats reflect troubling trends that align with Ms. L’s experience. Only 31% of 8th graders are reading at or above a proficient rating.
The same report shows that students with lower scores before Covid lockdowns, fell even further behind post-pandemic. Experts affirm suspicions that increased screentime isn’t encouraging young people to read for pleasure—if you can believe it.
@heymisscanigetapencil I love my students and my job. I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm genuinely baffled and concerned by what I've seen. This year feels much worse than previous years in terms of cognitive ability. I can teach a kid to analyze, to empathize, to define, and to explain but I have no idea how to teach a kid to think at a basic level. I feel like I'm in over my head. is anyone else seeing the same thing? #teacher #teachersoftiktok #teacherproblems #publicschool #publiceducation #middleschoolteacher #historyteacher #socialstudiesteacher #teachertok ♬ original sound - hey miss!
People engaging with the post discussed how the ability to read leads to other cognitive abilities. Commenters blamed screens and anti-intellectual culture for the decline in literacy among younger generations.
“Teaching literature isn't just about teaching literature,” commented u/ladystarkitten on a Reddit thread where the video was reposted.
“It teaches children how to struggle with and persevere through difficult language, how to extrapolate meaning through a historical lens, and above all, it's about encouraging curiosity as a value--a value that informs how we experience life, engage with politics, confront difficult challenges or concepts that we don't understand.”
A commenter on the TikTok video wrote: “Another day, another video that makes me feel like graduating before Chromebooks became a thing was like catching the last chopper out of 'Nam.”
“I was writing Twilight novel length fanfiction at 14. This blows my mind.”
“This is what anti-intellectualism and decades of defunding and devaluing education has gotten us.”
“I’m looking forward to the data from the Australian social media ban.”
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