yikes

I'm not surprised. Language skills have deteriorated so much.

One of the most confusing I've ever seen is between "it's" ("it is") and "its" (possessive). Part of it is also because English is sprawling, and has lots of cruft. Grammar rules can only be broken if they existed in the first place.

However, I've seen a comma as in "the 70's" in numerous places — I thought it was an acceptable alternative.

Similar case for "Smiths's" with an extra "s" for consistency, even tho that isn't required.

This is sad. The invention of the television, video games, the internet and "lazy speak" has not helped the past few generations. Teachers are getting dumber and so are our children. We have to take responsibility for their learning and not expect the teachers to give them everything they need. It is obvious that if we did, they would end up pretty illiterate anyway. Teachers are so underpaid and under appreciated, few of them care for their job and the students they teach anymore. I'm popping this to help promote parent responsibility in the education of their own children.