High school student exposes classmates’ abysmal reading skills — as they struggle with words like ‘silhouette,’ ‘extraordinary’

NY Post ^ | 05/03/2026 | Anthony Blair

[DFG]

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.

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TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: closekthru12; education; philadelphia; whatthevek

[allendale]

This is especially alarming since this public high school is purported to be a selective premier school. Sadly staggering numbers of urban public high school graduates are functionally illiterate and are incapable of basic math skills. This occurs despite that in most urban locales over $30,000 per sudent per year are spent on their education while they attend. Can’t imagine what basic skills those who drop out prior to high school graduation have attained.Urban public education is despite the spin a colossal failure.

[Sicvee]

Late 50’s teenagers especially from Philly, would have no trouble because of the hit song by the Rays

[Third Person]

is that you, Doctor Wu?

[FlingWingFlyer]

But the little bass turds sure do know how to skip school and protest with the gray-haired bearded azhos. They are on their way towards being retards with cell phones.

HAVE AN ICE DAY!!!

[gloryblaze]

I'd like to see some reading test scores for the teachers.

I remember so well back in gradeschool when fat, mean Mrs. Amundson read the week's new words, for us to repeat and spell out loud.

The word was "grotesque" and she called "grow-tes-cue." I broke out laughing, loud.

She never did like me, and I never did like her.

[Mr. Blond]

It’s Philly...

[Sarah Barracuda]

Yeah but no worries, kids are learning to hate ICE, hate Jews, and support Hamas so totally worth it

[eyeamok]

Can they fill out an application for gubmint benefits?

[Fiji Hill]

Late 50’s teenagers especially from Philly, would have no trouble because of the hit song by the Rays

The cool cats flipped it over to hear Daddy Cool

My favorite Rays opus is Tippity Top.

[Flycatcher]

Nah. I’m just a shadow of the man that you once knew…

[PGR88]

Preparatory Charter School of Mathematics, Science, Technology and Careers.

Its a good thing one doesn't need words like "silhouette," and "extraordinary" to be a NASA rocket scientist!

[dagunk]

“silhouette”

Fourth or fifth grade for me. Parochial schools.
Brings up a picture of a woman wearing a nice dress, backlit, semi-transparent.

[dfwgator]

Can’t Buy A Thrill, greatest debut album ever.

[bankwalker]

They sold those special x-ray glasses in the back of the comic books.

[chajin]

Maybe they confused "gauche" with "gaucho" and didn't think a woman could be a cowboy.

I wonder how many of them could get the joke in The Manchurian Candidate when Raymond Shaw, dressed like a dandy cowboy, refers to himself as "Gaucho Marx."

[A strike]

That’s a good point, and
that sentence makes no sense either..

[CodeToad]

Maybe the schools could start by first hiring teachers that can do and teach cursive writing.

[dandiegirl]

To me those words are not advanced. I probably learned those in 5th grade. Can you imagine if they had to have the education of early Americans or the English children in the 1800s? Even in my parents generation of the 1940s and 1950s, school was hard. Latin was required. Why it got so dumbed down is appalling.

[imardmd1]

Well, pronouncing “silhouette” is not very difficult to someone who was high-schooled seventy years ago, but it would never have been used in the sense that his test sentence applies it. simply knowing how to pronounce a word doesn't mean that one knows how to use it in a readable context.

[KarlInOhio]

Take a picture against a green screen, turn the green white and everything else black. Bam, silhouette! There's probably even an app for that. Why waste time painstakingly drawing someone's shadow on paper.

Using T to convert STEAM back into STEM.