A Boring Dystopia

You joke, but I went back to college for a bit a few years back. We'd read an article in class. I'd have read the thing in a minute or two. The rest of the class would take 10 minutes or more.

And these were educated people in a college class. I really think phone use has ruined a lot an entire generation's ability to read and grasp the essence of a text quickly.

I had to look this up because I was thinking the same thing.

Sixth grade reading entails understanding plot structures, narrative voices, character developments, and the use of language. Students also compare and contrast themes in articles and stories. In the process, your child’s vocabulary should grow by leaps and bounds.

From https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/sixth-grade-reading

I can't find any definition for 8, 9, or 10th grade reading.

I found this, where the definition comes from, it the definition is based on a score on a test and doesn't always seem to have a set of criteria we can look at. https://www.justrightreads.com/reading-levels-explained

6th grade is what? 10 years old.

I wouldn't expect them to be reading War and Peace, but they should be able to easily read The Hobbit or Harry Potter.

They're not on Spot the Dog, or putting their fingers under the words as they go.

This is nothing new though. I remember being in middle school and teachers saying that the most sophisticated newspapers at the time were written at an eighth grade level. Basically, it's the level where you're not alienating potential customers, I guess. And I suppose there's some benefit to dumbing down things like news. Maybe. I dunno.