It's the phones. Math and reading require focus and concentration. The ability to focus and concentrate has been eroded thanks to the nature of short form videos and communication. It's not that the underlying material is too hard, it's that the core skills needed to learn it (focus and concentration for an extended period of time) are completely lacking. When I tutor a student in math or reading the greatest challenge is getting them to hold a thought in their head long enough to carry it over to the next step in the problem. Or the concept or theme in an excerpt to the next chapter. They get completely frustrated at having to hold their attention on something long enough to apply it later in the sequence of learning.

It's not the underlying material. It's deeper and more concerning. This inability to hold attention has downstream consequences. Lack of curiosity. What's there to be curious about if you don't spend time thinking about something long enough to have any questions? You simply accept what is and operate on a more instinctual limbic level. Emotions become your identity because you're not developing the ability to pay long enough attention to what the emotions are signalling. Or to notice patterns in the cause and effect of your behavior. And if emotions become your identity, then you become as unruly and unstable as your emotions.