A high school senior in South Philadelphia is facing expulsion, a prom ban, and the loss of his graduation ceremony after posting a TikTok that has been viewed more than 14 million times. His offense wasn’t violence, cheating, or threats. He asked his classmates to read a sentence out loud.
The student, who goes by @whatthevek on TikTok, attends Preparatory Charter High School, a college prep school in South Philadelphia. In the video, he holds up a handwritten index card with a single sentence and asks classmates to read it aloud.
The sentence: “She wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche.”
“I Don’t Even Know How to Read”
What followed was difficult to watch. One student read “silhouette” as “sahalat.” Another pronounced “gauche” as “Gertrude.” Several couldn’t get past the first few words before giving up entirely. One student, laughing but clearly frustrated, said it plainly: “I don’t even know how to read. I don’t know why I didn’t know.”…