A high school student in Philadelphia exposed how his classmates are struggling to read easy words and comprehend relatively simple sentences in a viral series of videos.
And he may have gotten in hot water for his trouble.
The videos, posted on TikTok, show the teenagers failing to read a sentence on a piece of paper while being filmed at the city’s Preparatory Charter School of Mathematics, Science, Technology and Careers.
In the clip, made by user “whatthevek” earlier this week, not a single high school-aged student was able to read the sentence, “She wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche.”
He made a follow-up video a day later in which the students were apparently unable to make sense of the sentence, “The colonel asked the choir to accommodate the governor’s schedule.”
The two videos racked up a combined 1.7 million likes and thousands of comments, but “whatthevek” later claimed he wouldn’t be making a third due to threats from authorities at Prep Charter.
“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. I don’t know chat,” he wrote in an Instagram story on Friday.
South Philly-based Prep Charter, one of the most diverse schools in the state, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
State test scores show that just 53% of students at the school tested proficient in reading, and just 19% were proficient in math.
The video has sparked outrage, with many calling out the parents as well as the school.
“Yo late Gen Xers and older Millennials have failed their kids so badly. How can you neglect your child so badly, you don’t make sure they can read?!” one X user wrote.
“Them charter schools are s–t. I had my son in one for 6th grade, and had to pull him out. They’ll hire anybody. I couldn’t believe the things my son would tell me and the conversations I had with the teachers. It’s a scam,” added a second X user.
“1. Not surprised this is in Philly lmao. 2. I knew Prep Charter wasn’t preparing nobody for s–t,” a third wrote.
A local social media group shared a message that it had written to the school, slamming it for allegedly threatening a student with expulsion.
“From what has been shared, the content appears harmless in nature and does not promote violence, bullying, or any form of serious misconduct,” reads the Facebook post from the group NO GUN ZONE Incorporated for Philadelphia.
“To jeopardize their future at such a critical point over an activity that seems intended for lighthearted engagement raises questions about fairness and proportionality in disciplinary action,” the post continues.
Roughly 71% of Philadelphia’s fourth-graders cannot read at grade level, according to statistics from Philadelphia-based social justice group Achieve Now.
The same group found that just over half of all adults in Philadelphia are functionally illiterate, one of the highest rates among large US cities.
