To think people are getting noticeably stupider

[CurdinHenry]

At every level of capability it just feels like the species is in decline

Appalling! They should give all trainee primary teachers a SPAG test at the beginning of their course, and provide remedial training if needed. I’d be happy to set such a test! 🙂. A couple of sheets of A4, littered with all the usual SPAG mistakes, which they’d have to write out correctly!

I am a massive reader too! My oldest son got a Masters in Creative Writing at Glasgow and you have no idea how proud I am.

All down to reading, but not only that. Don't know how to explain it.

Just family time. Reading together, playing together, someone came to my door when they were small and I answered it dressed as a gladiator. Shorts, a hard hat, and one of those big sticks with a foam thing at both ends and the person took it in their stride. 😂

Plus we had a wonky built in gas fire from Next which discoloured all the wallpaper so we complained and the person who came to see it had to crawl through a "trap" made of their Grannies knitting wool and again took it in their stride. Agreed to crawl through it to look at the fire. 😅

Plus, my children love Jazz, because their papa loved it. Different world now.

Absolutely! These people are meant to be teaching our children! Standards have definitely dropped.....😔(I'm generalising of course)

This is not new - I have been doing this for 26 years since I started teaching.

Definitely a huge decline in what I can expect my A level and GCSE students to read now. Been teaching since the 1990s. Also at KS3, as a pp said, they put something into Google or Chat GTP and just copy out whatever it says without any engagement whatsoever. They have no clue what they've written. I spend most of my time trying to explain to them that the whole point of doing work is to learn it, either content or a skill, not jump through a hoop and get a good mark.

I tend to agree with this. I was an Occupational Therapist. We do specialise but many of us don't, kind of like a GP doesn't. One of the things we were taught at college was that its OK not to know everything but its important to be able to do proper fast accurate research and to be able to critically assess the usefulness of that research.
I mean honestly capitals of the world is not a useful thing to carry in your head. Neither are most historical dates. btw I am in my 70's

Stumbled on this newspaper article and I think it proves your point, OP.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/40743247/why-is-it-dark-morning/

No, you wouldn't.

🤣 written by a journalist who thinks he’s the smartest guy in a room and approved by an editor struggling for content

"ExtraHotDoubleShot · 18/10/2026 19:57
I would have chronic fatigue if I lived off Monster energy and vapes."

might make a point one way or another about this thread though....I wonder how old the poster is?

I think it's pretty good! We're all complaining that PEOPLE DON'T KNOW STUFF about how everyday life works. My parents explained it me, then school did; I explained it to my younger sibs then their schools did.

It's clear people are missing out on these everyday explanations. They might not read newspapers, even the Sun, but they do read social media posts and this topic's a perfect candidate for "I was today years old when I found out " shares. More of this sort of thing, I say!