High school classrooms have become linguistic obstacle courses. Students dodge simple words the way a driver swerves around potholes, choosing elaborate detours instead of direct language. The pattern is unmistakable and worrisome.
A student asked to describe a character might write "the individual engaged in behavioral patterns inconsistent with societal expectations" instead of "the person acted weird." Another might say "we utilized collaborative methodologies to achieve optimal results" when "we worked together and did well" would suffice. The evasion is constant, reflexive, almost compulsive.
The problem runs deeper than mere verbosity. When students cannot or will not name things plainly, they lose the ability to think clearly about them. Vague language creates vague thought. Complex sentences masking simple ideas suggest either confusion or dishonesty, and neither serves learning.
George Orwell understood this danger decades ago. His essay on politics and the English language warned that corrupt language corrupts thought, and corrupt thought corrupts reality itself. Modern students need that lesson more than ever. They need permission to write simply, to choose precision over pretension, to say what they mean without apologizing for clarity.
The fix is not complicated. Teachers can demand plain English. Students can practice saying things straight. Curriculum can celebrate directness. The goal is not dumbed-down prose but purposeful language, words chosen for their actual meaning rather than their supposed gravitas.
Children absorb the linguistic habits around them. When bureaucratic jargon and corporate-speak dominate their world, they mimic it. Restoring plain speech requires intention and modelling from adults who still believe that saying what you mean matters.
Author James Rodriguez: "Students wielding pretentious language to avoid real thinking deserve better than to be left to their own devices, and teachers have to call it out."
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