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Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The literacy crisis is not just referring to people's ability to literally read and write. It's also people's inability to read for context. I've been a public educator for over 20 years and I have never, ever seen it this bad.

7:25 PM · Sep 25, 2026 · 0 views

Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Y'all know Bean Soup Theory? How someone can post a recipe for bean soup and the replies will be "BUT WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE BEANS?!" That is sometimes annoying trolling but it's predominantly people failing to understand how to read for context, understand intended audience, etc.

sicilian-sky.bsky.social @sicilian-sky.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I'd heard that in many Canadian HSs, students don't read books any longer, only excerpts of books

Jonathan J. Chiarella @il-kwang.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

The bean soup example reminds me of the Amazon Q&A: “Is this waterproof?” “I don’t know.” You see this in high school sometimes where someone raises a hand or says, “I don’t know,” out loud. Yes, I know that Amazon Q&A emails solicit all purchasers, but it proves the point about reading for context.

JennyOooooOoo @sleepypeep.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

There is also a particular style of humor where misinterpreting something, responding to something from a wrong context perspective is funny & I think it’s a habit like that thing where you start using a word ironically & over time you find that word is just part of your normal vocabulary now.

Ultraviolet Catastrophe @southernviolet.northsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Every child left behind.

msh skeeta @melodymocha.blacksky.app · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Excellent thread. 👏🏽

Michael Erard @michaelerard.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

No wonder parenting is so hard on top of being hard

spooky jack-o'-lantern treats @racerxmachina.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

/cries in union organizer It's been really hard to get grown adults to realize that we all have to work together to get what we want. The IT guys don't see how turning up for the janitors will benefit THEM and I'm like... dude, not everything is about you

Filigree 'Cranky Science Witch' @filigreemchana.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I noticed 10 years ago in TwitterPitch contests (for authors to score literary agent notice) that a *lot* of authors/commenters seemed unable to read for context.

Marc Lajoie @lajoiemedia.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

It's disheartening the number of media critiques these days that amount to: "the villain is doing bad things, I can't believe the author condones his behaviour!". The author doesn't!! That's why he's the villain!!

Rainer Bartl 😷💙💛💚 @rainerbartl.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Thanks so much for your thoughtful posts! 🙏🏻🎯💯 @unroll.skywriter.blue

Zaryn @zapd117.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I see so many of these kinds of posts in Reddit and it's incredibly depressing.

PatriciaJane @patwashburn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I just got off the phone with one of the dumbest Customer Service reps I have ever encountered, and it was clear that she was struggling to read her way through the process she needed to follow.

boo ming @wu-ming.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

it's a consequence of no child left behind and subsequent decades of how most school systems teach reading in K-12, esp. elementary schools. it's a disaster.

kilog013.bsky.social @kilog013.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I’ve been teaching for 30 years and you’re 100% accurate.

someguyincleveland @markwschumann.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I'm seeing a lot of failure to break through even slightly complex logic, like I'm writing "If A is true and you also do B, then C is assured." And they're disappointed to find that C didn't happen by itself.

Paul 🇨🇦 @dw2112.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Terrific thread. Thanks for posting.

Kevin Riggle @kevinr.free-dissociation.com · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I wonder what part of this is that we’re inundated with content(tm) now and the default mode is to skim, if we even read the original article at all. I’ve been reading more books recently and it’s genuinely hard to get myself back into a mode of deep engagement—

jaclaeys.bsky.social @jaclaeys.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Education is NOT a priority of the current regime in the WH. Their motto, like Hitler's, keep the masses ignorant and fearful.

Care for others @hwenaveere.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Several studies reveal similar findings: covid, even mild covid, reduces the cognitive capacities that are measured on iq tests: www.psypost.org/large-study-...

Large study finds COVID-19 is linked to a substantial deficit in intelligence

People who have recovered from COVID-19 tend to score significantly lower on an intelligence test compared to those who have not contracted the virus,

joanie2fox.bsky.social @joanie2fox.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

We’re also no longer speaking to people much. Leading to cognitive decline and fewer babies..

Lindajudah @lindajudah.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

truth

DrJ,EdD @joejeph.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

One of the awful things about all this is that pointing out the literacy crisis fuels the rhetoric of the EdTech and testing lobby, who use it to sell more products to districts who then throw books and curriculum out and and make the literacy problem *worse.*

DrJ,EdD @joejeph.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

We CAN teach middle grades and HS literacy in a short attention span millieu. Poetry, lyrics, theatre… The novel can say things that only novels can, and I do not want to give that up. But I’m willing to fight for what can be successful now and build back more as a next step.

manita @manita41176347.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

according to plan..

Emily Johnson @emilyrj.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

The number of people this week reading a certain Boston Globe story that was openly mocking everyone interviewed and cited (and unsurprisingly misrepresented the situation, according to sources!), going “but the journalist was supportive of the main source” um no very much not! the opposite actually

literalidiom.bsky.social @literalidiom.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

It’s driving too. No one can merge. It’s causing traffic jams at every exit & it wasn’t always like this.

Ryan of the 365 Movies Hates A.I. @rme33.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

People can’t do context or ambiguity in any setting. My go-to example is how most people seem to love Get Out, whose message is delivered with a chainsaw, but hate Us (IMO the superior film) because it doesn’t provide them with obvious answers.

Jef/Feral @feralgeek.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Homeschooled for 11 years before private, liberal arts college Holy SHIT does no one know how to fucking THINK anymore. The covid lockdown where i had to educate my son at home was bliss compared to being asked to toe the publicly-mandated line

Jams @jams.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

It’s not just an inability to draw an inference or read between the lines. I think people are losing the ability to think critically and entertain a hypothetical. Along with that, the ability to empathize, or to understand and anticipate someone else’s behavior.

DAT BUNN @bunnzo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

In Grade 8 English, we did an activity where we read a few news articles and had to spot the bias in them. I was 13 and did not yet have the sophistication to clock what I'm sure was obvious slant. It's scary that there are adults who don't have the reading level to notice basic editorial bias.

Spaceweft @spaceweft.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

COVID. Why does no one remember this disease that has impacted the entire world for seven years now? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Long-term cognitive outcomes after mild COVID-19, critical COVID-19, and non-COVID critical illness: a prospective cohort comparison - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Long-term cognitive outcomes after mild COVID-19, critical COVID-19, and non-COVID critical illness: a prospective cohort comparison

hibbary.bsky.social @hibbary.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

When I was in school in the 90s kids were already not great at it. The idea of it getting worse scares the pants off me.

TotallyNotAnAlienHidingInAFleshSuit @inqubate.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

There are entire story telling AI too. So people can seclude themselves in worlds of their choosing. They can just write "Tell me a story about Luke Skywalker falling in love with Han Solo." And BAM they get it. No need to infer any meaning at all, everything is custom tailored.

mattbarrs.bsky.social @mattbarrs.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

This is why teaching art, poetry, and drama matters.

Andrea Is Sick of Long Covid @andreastudiescovid.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Much of what you describe are exactly the effects of COVID on the brain. COVID causes brain damage, something that is barely mentioned in these replies. Yikes. Talk about needing to read. All of you need to read part of the mountain of research on COVID-related brain damage. Do it now.

gojirama, but spooky @gojirama1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I really think the rise of short form video is a major contributing factor.

Matthew 🦖 @moosewithablanket.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I've seen it on social media so much and even trying to explain the context often goes nowhere.

Philipp Schwenk @teaandbio.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

When i was still Teaching i saw a similar effect. Students did everything to avoid reading a full paper (ofc not all, but numbers rose after the pandemic). How can i train scientists who avoid engaging with complex texts? I refuse to give up, even once prepared a seminar on "how to read a paper"...

Jenni Said🖕🧊 @jennisaidthat.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

The worst part, for me, is how much of it is *willful*. They develop a schema, often on the basis of a control oriented religion or other hierarchy-based construct, and anything that doesn't fit into that schema is rejected *literally* without any thought. See: the freak out over Arabic numbers.

👻🌙Quivering Qwiery 🏳️‍⚧️💗 @qwiery.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

The comment about "rather than reading passively", So much of our modern lives, let alone entertainment is Passive, nothing makes you think, everything is easy to use, click start, your always only a few buttons away from food if your ok with money disappearing, then you have autoscrolling vids?

pequeño y gordo y enojado y somnoliento @kareliyu.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

screenshot of a famous tumblr-post-turned-meme:

Person A: "The reading comprehension and overall common sense on this website is piss poor."

Person B: "how dare you say we piss on the poor"

Akhier Dragonheart @akhier.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

My part time job is running a grocery store self checkout. The machine will both display text telling you what to do, as well as speak it out loud. People just do not process what it says. And it has gotten worse.

human333777.bsky.social @human333777.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

Ofc there's also covid-induced brain damage. Pronounced in 10% of the population and a little bit in everyone who's had covid

morgaine-pendragon.bsky.social @morgaine-pendragon.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

The last time I taught academic writing at uni (>10 years ago), I gave, as always, a lecture and workshop on how to determine if a source is credible. The sheer # of students who took the time to write out on their (multiple choice) evaluation forms how valuable that was blew me away 😱

CherHell @cherhell.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I shared the concept of main character syndrome with a teacher friend recently, and it resounded with her. She told me how prevalent that is in her classrooms in the last few years.

Weavesong @marawamona.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

A lot of the things you mention in this thread have also been directly encouraged and facilitated by a rising global campaign of fascist propaganda over the past decade, in direct response to the billionaires’ good little cogs getting too educated and united for their liking.

Jamie 🎃 @jamielittleflower.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

The social media discussion around the novel Yesteryear really brought all this home to me

J.B. 🏳️‍🌈 (JB's Nerd Den) @beaglejosh.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

I work with children as well, it is really bad

Morgan Johnson @poormojo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

↪ Replying to @julieslalonde.bsky.social

There’s a really great podcast called “sold a story” that investigates the literacy crisis almost like a true crime story. They find a culprit ultimately and also do actual activist work with state education departments to address the problem. It’s wonderful