Is it worse, or am I delusional?

First year teacher. I feel like- the behavior out of my 4th graders, as well as the behavior I saw from any grade while subbing, along with their intelligence, is the most poor thing I’ve ever seen. It is majorly declined versus when I was in the same grade level (2008). So I sometimes ponder to myself, “were there students around me that were this bad, and this low, and I never had any idea? I can’t remember them? These kids seem to remember their peers who are terrible behavior kids. I don’t remember having but one in each class. “ It seems as though GT is now on-level while the rest of my students perform below level. It makes me think of how I wouldn’t blame anyone for leaving the field, the behavior is like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s enough to make me question whether I’d stay in the field.

I wrote three paragraphs with five sentences each for the fourth grade TAKS. My fourth graders complain about two cursive sentences and their ECR being five sentences total. . It’s like so sad to see that none of them even enjoy writing.

For those who have been teaching a while, were students always like this, or has it changed? I feel like it’s changed but can’t say for sure.

Edit- this is spoken in the sense that even with engaging lessons, the kids would rather use a Chromebook/ipad. I love my kids, I really do, there are just days where I get in my head and fear that I won’t grow them into amazing writers with amazing comprehension and grammar. 🤣