Today’s average L.A. Unified fourth-grader spent half of kindergarten and the entirety of first grade at home, learning the foundations of reading on a Chromebook. By the time that same student returned to the classroom as a second-grader in August of 2021, they had effectively reached the end of formal phonics instruction.

that sounds like a major legitimate problem. should we organize any kind of societal response to remediate this problem?

no, we should quote anonymous complaints from reddit and move on.

The last six months have seen the rise of the newest Gen Alpha stereotype: the Sephora tween. These serum-obsessed 12-year-olds have been filmed plundering beauty stores — spoiling samples, terrorizing grown-up shoppers and hoarding expensive products formulated for mature skin. [emphasis mine]

okay here it is. they always bury the lede. danged kids are buying up my danged face cream!