Teacher Says Her Profession Is The Most Toxic, Talks About Abuse From Students That Teachers Deal With
Teachers are real human beings. Unfortunately, not all people think of them that way. To some students, teachers are their enemies. Just an extension of the school, not living, breathing, thinking, feeling, vulnerable people who are like us in every way except that they face away from the blackboard and towards us in the classroom.
Annie Demczak couldn’t hold her emotions in anymore and vented her true feelings on Facebook in a viral post that got overwhelming support from readers. According to Demczak, teaching is the most toxic profession she knows because staff members are expected to come to work with a smile on their face despite the physical and verbal abuse they receive from pupils.
One teacher couldn’t hold it in any longer and shared her feelings about the job online
Image credits: Annie Demczak
The post went viral
Image credits: Annie Demczak
The teacher’s post touched many a person’s heart. The truthful rant got over 92,000 likes and was shared over 114,000 times. Most social media users thanked Demczak for telling it how it is and not sugar coating a serious issue.
According to Demczak, teachers and other people need to speak up about the issues surrounding teacher-student relationships, and also set firm boundaries. Nobody deserves to be abused, especially not teachers who are responsible for molding kids into adults.
She compared what teachers face during work to an abusive relationship
Image credits: ann.skinner.31
Sadly, Demczak is right about how tough educators and academics have it. The BBC writes that a poll of 5,000 NASUWT teacher’s union members found that 24 percent of teachers face violence in classrooms once a week. While 42 percent have received verbal threats.
“Having taught for almost 40 years I have witnessed a demonstrable and seemingly unstoppable deterioration in pupil behaviour,” one of the teachers revealed to researchers. “Moreover, teachers are, it seems, now expected to tolerate verbal abuse and threats as ‘par for the course’ and, quite literally, ‘an occupational hazard’. There appears to be no appetite for tackling the issues that face teachers in the classroom.”
Internet users thanked her for telling the truth
I do not envy teachers at all. They are overworked, under paid and under appreciated. So many teachers are leaving the profession in droves due to the stress, abuse, pay and workload etc. In Australia alone 40% of teachers will leave the profession within the first 5 years.
I have a relative who works in a private school - which is another story entirely. But with regards to public schools, I do not envy teachers at all, I would never want their job; neither do I envy bus drivers nor daycare workers. My day job is in digital marketing, yeah I make more money a year than a lot of teachers. But back to my relative who teaches a tech course at a private school: his class is very small (16 students), the students are well-behaved and eager to learn, he makes very good money, well above what a public school teacher in the same field makes. He does not have an education degree (which is not needed in a private school) but he does have his Master's in computer tech.
Load More Replies...Parents have been consistently undermining teacher's authority for years, and now we see the results. And administration is too afraid of putting a foot down to all those Karens and Kevins who won't even try to instill some empathy to their kids.
SO MUCH OF THIS. You are absolutely right. Admin says "fill out an incident report (on your break) and get back in the classroom" And don't make a scene. Let it go.
Load More Replies...Unfortunately, our society is sick quite sometime now. Little ones with such toxic behaviour ,it's just a reflection.
Little ones with toxic behavior and no consequences... actually that's part of the cause.
Load More Replies...I can verify. I was a teacher, I had a nervous breakdown, and I'm not a teacher anymore.
Can I ask when was this and what happened? Would you say that teaching is different now than it was 20 years ago?
Load More Replies...She is right...when my daughter was in high school freshman & sophomore year was a nightmare. The first time I got called into a parent teacher conference, the teacher was talking to me about her bad behavior, then my daughter started yelling at him. I slammed my hand on the table and told her that if she raises her voice again I will reach across this table and snatch you up. The faculty was shocked because they are usually dealing with parents that blame them instead of realizing that their child isn't an angel. I went from totally having her back to leaving with my daughter in tears since she got caught because if she could disrespect an adult so vilely in my presence then who knows how she treated him during the school day. I left them with my work email since it alerts to my desk and phone and told them to message me if there is any other issue. Teachers need support and these kids need to learn respect.
If you don’t mind me asking, what did the kids do to her?
Load More Replies...I realized how bad things were getting when we, kids about 15yo, looked at students 2-3 years younger than us and wondered "wtf is wrong with those kids". And we were by no means a perfectly behaved class. That was more than 10 years ago and from what I hear things have gotten steadily worse. In my experience the biggest problem are the parents - it seems few people these days know how (or want) to teach their kids how to behave.
It starts at home. Quit allowing your kids to do whatever they want, actually discipline them, know that word? Negative reinforcement works well if you’re against spanking. Some of the kids I’ve seen though need to be spanked
You can punish without corporal punishment, m8. Just take away their privileges all the gadgets, TV privileges, etc. If they say "they're bored" you give them two options: A book or do chores. Any gripe and that's a demerit and longer punishment term. Good behavior/grades will help earn back with privileges. Punish the mind, not the body.
Load More Replies...I'm nice to all my teachers! Even if I don't like them for whatever reason or if I'm having a bad day I don't take it out on them because it wasn't their fault. Even if I don't know them, im a freshman in high school this year and of course, since its a new school I didn't know where some of my classes were and I went up to a teacher helping students find them and I said "Hi! Can you tell me the way to room *whatever*?" and she told me and i started going that way and when I was talking away I overheard other students being mean to her. I still visit my teacher from 6th grade and she said im one of her favorite she ever had when I actually had her a couple of students made her cry and everyone was making fun of her for crying but i went up to her a hugged her. and even if they give me a bad grade, I talk to them after class to see what I can do to fix it, not curse them out(which somebody did in my English class last Friday)
I've worked as an aide for 7 yrs now. I love working with kids but it can be super stressful. I've been called vile names and threatened with violence all because I asked the student to stop disrupting the class. The office doesnt punish them, the parents don't care. They do no work and come to school to fool around. I try to focus on the behaved kids but it is very stressful.
I've been teaching for 5 years and working in schools for 10 in the UK. We have huge issues here with assessment processes, parental and public views, workload and that does not include ensuring we deliver effective, engaging lessons where pupils achieve. I have sadly seen fantastic teachers leave the profession for many reasons and unfortunately this is continuing. Our government only ever wants more from us and like the article states, little is done to support the teachers. There is no way for us to be heard as we are all in the toxic position of trying not to upset management, parents, colleagues, children or worst of all, our own families. We have to cope or go on strike and miss out on pay for the day, which I have never actually done due to the poor pay. I love my job, but without changes being made there are fewer teachers speaking positively about the role and therefore less getting into teaching. Thank you for the support in this article it is always appreciated.
Well, let's be clear: the school systems, including the teachers, have enabled this behavior. They stopped punishing students and started tolerating the bad behavior, so, it just grew and became the norm. Sure, there were always bad kids, kids that acted out, kids being kids. They used to get punished. When parents undermined the authority of the teachers, the school system set them straight. No longer. Schools now kow-tow to every single belief set of the kids. Want to blow school off for some demonstration? Sure thing, little snowflake! You get the behavior you enable. Don't complain when you get it.
The problem with the type of punishment you are describing is that it doesn't set the child up for life. My own approach is to set the pupils up with the tools and strategies to manage their own behaviour rather than wait to get punished and act well behaved through fear. It actually works and is life changing. I am not complaining or enabling bad behaviour.
Load More Replies...My mum is a teacher and it kills me to see the stress she goes through dealing with her class every. friggin. day. For her a 'good day' at school is a day she doesnt have a break down. I wish so bad she'd find a different job, or at least move to an all girls school because (don't attack me for saying it) 90% of her difficult students are male. :'(
So sad. But unfortunately true and not an overreaction. I'm one of those kids whose parents went without a tremendous amount to put me through a private education for at least some of my schooling. Didn't fit in with the pretentious brats from wealthy backgrounds. But by god we were taught respect. ALL teachers were "Sir" and "Miss"; we had to stand whenever someone entered the room; leave if we misbehaved; god forbid your name went in the terrifying Black Book, which meant your misdemeanour would be referenced by the Headmaster during assembly. There were the usual punishments of detention etc. But that might, for example, incorporate an essay on "respect" (Christ knows how I manage to waffle for two sides of A4, but it landed the point). House Points (long before Harry Potter!) would be deducted if you screwed up, so your peers would then have a go. Teachers treated us like young adults and we were taught to behave like them. Is that too much to ask?
That was because it was probably the 80’s and 90’s when you were in school. Private school or not, it doesn’t matter. You were taught how to act because people’s parents in our generation didn’t make the world revolve around children and we knew our parents wouldn’t be on our side if we f****d up. Kids now live in a fantasy world made just for them. The world is made for and caters to children now. We waited patiently through the 80s and 90s to become adults and get adult benefits and as SOON as we came of age, everything reversed and suddenly kids were in charge. We got screwed and the parents who are our age are to blame.
Load More Replies...You could easily replace teacher with health care worker. Lets face it, people are becoming more violent, more belligerent, more entitled and obnoxious.
Health Care Workers make 5 times what a teacher makes with the same level of degree. At least the world accepts that you need to make a living. Teachers hear the demeaning self-justifying lies that the public tells itself, ie., "teachers don't work for money. " Since this has been universally accepted the US teaching profession is down 80%. It seems teachers heard you and figured they needed to make money. They decided to work of a living instead of nothing. LOL
Load More Replies...Yeah. This is what happens when society embraces "relative truth" ideology. This is also what happens when parents raise their kids with the "respect of others has to be earned" mentality. Instead of insisting their children respect all adults they encounter they allow them to be disrespectful. No, it's not ok that your six year old mouths back at an adult because to your six year old that adult hasn't "earned" their respect yet. I have two kids and I make sure they respect their teachers no matter if they agree with them or not. We have to stop this "relative truth" nonsense.
Can any young people or long term teachers please explain to me what the HELL happened?? I went to grade school in the 90’s and I don’t remember it being like this. Sometimes violent or verbally abusive outbursts happened with kids but those kids got in deep trouble with administration and parents, and it wasn’t that common. How and why is it so different now? I don’t remember any of this before.
Peoples attitudes are changing and there is more of "punishing or disciplining kids is bad", "saying no to kids is bad", "everyone wins and gets a trophy", "my child is an angel" etc etc.
Load More Replies...I never wanted to be a teacher because I knew all this. In fact, I agree with the post but I call it out to be a tad too emotional. She does not have to love all her students. She can just pay attention to them and guide them by being a respectable rolemodel kind of human. Yes the teacher is human. They know that. Don't try to be an enduring goddess, yell if necessary. Kids can be super mean. Especially in those puberty years, when Highschool means life and death. OF COURSE teachers are gonna get it. But this is just very normal and the hard crazy life. Imagine the parents life, imagine the life of teachers in developping countries, imagine the kids journey itself. Don't sugarcoat the job. Just focus on the job. And next time a student tells you they wanna kill you, scare him.
I'd agree with you normally, but it's really not as easy. Whatever you do or say can spread voices about you and be misinterpreted as abuse, even leading to legal consequences and in the end it's the teacher who gets the poop. Scare them? Yes, do it, but be careful on your scaring method.
Load More Replies...Although I do agree that teachers are human beings and deserve to be treated obviously with dignity and respect they have the authority to revert the toxic behaviour..there is bound to be some sort of punishment system for difficult students in all schools. In fact, it's in school that children learn how to behave and what kind of behaviour gets them punished and rewarded...teachers like her need to understand how to stamp the foot down on such behavior v
Valerie - I don't think you understand because you aren't there. The reason these problems are happening is because the teachers DON'T have the authority to do anything! Have you ever been written up for asking the administration to help you with a problem student? I know plenty of teachers who have! Have you called for help when a student is cursing and ripping down your classroom, maliciously throwing pencils at the other kids or trying grab at other students ankles in the 3rd grade just to have no help arrive or for the child to be sent back without any consequences? Or have you been told don't send them to ISS because there is no more room? I have. There is no fear from the students of punishment because the consequences have been removed and the state has told the school they can only have so many referrals for ISS without being reprimanded by the state. Teaching in many schools is toxic, and it is NOT the the teachers' fault. Their hands are tied.
Load More Replies...I worked with special needs children for ten years. I loved my job. I remember every one of those kids. My absolute favorite was in my class the very first year, and for two additional years (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade). He has Down Syndrom and the very first day I worked with him, he bit my inner arm, right below the elbow. The bruise was massive, and stuck around for two months afterwards. He was non verbal, and violence was his means of communicating. It wasn't just adults getting assaulted. He targeted other children in the classroom, and in the hallways he would lunge for "regular ed" kids. We received no support from the parents, who instead of addressing their child's behavior blamed us and said it must be our fault he behaves that way at school. Administration offered no support. The county behavior specialist came out once a month, but that was a joke. He was so overworked and had so many cases to manage he couldn't do much with us or this child. We basically just had to deal.
this is true, sometimes loving people means setting boundaries- some parents still don't get, the child that "always gets everything they want" is not happy- and that the school can't do all the parenting for you. School systems shouldn't let people get away with being jerks- it's a pretty similar attitude to customer service. "let them be jerks, they give us money"- but in the long term, in exchange for money, you give up power... which is far more valuable. in short our society has become very afraid of confrontation, and the confrontations we do have are handled inappropriately or with inexperience
That kid goes in to treatment and the parents , by law need to attend family therapy with their kids! There is a reason the kids use that kind of behavior to solve problems! The school is often at fault in the case of bullying, again not stopping the situation and holding the kid and parents accountable! Solve the problems, don't keep pushing it down the line and let that kid kill, maim or seriously injure another teacher, or other kids! It doesn't have to be this way! Teachers need some kind of organization like a rape counselor is to a victim. To help them stay safe, and prosecute the kids and parents. Otherwise, mayhem will always ensue, and no one will be safe, ever.
Why don't teachers unions do something? Teachers should be paid way more than they are! They are like soldiers on the front line dealing with road side bombers that want to hurt you, because they don't like what you say, or how your rules for common social behavior doesn't include violence or assault or verbal abuse and threats. I think, these parents should be having assault charges filed against them, and their a*****e behaving kids! Just because it's done in school and by a kid, doesn't make it ok, and un punishable! That kid should be removed from school, by a parent, the parent told what the child did, and the parent told assault charges have been filed against their kid! We all know kids have access to guns and will get them and use them! Parents should be held accountable, as well as these kids! Get them in to a facility and assessed for mental health issues, and let the parents know, they will be held accountable. If they are found to have a kid they can't control, then ,
Kids can be evil, and the parents are no help at all because they think that their angels are above reproach. When I was in 7th grade, my geography teacher left due to a nervous breakdown. The same happened again to another teacher in 8th grade. I don't think that either of them ever returned to this profession.
It's not just little kids either. My fiance has been teaching for 17 years in high school. She was directly told by her principal that if she is hurt by a student or there is a fight to call the office and ONLY the office. In other words, never involve the police. She told me that her first call would be to 911 if she were attacked. I agree, she shouldn't have to risk her safety because a principal believes that kids will be kids. It is one of several reasons why this highly qualified teacher is leaving education next year. She will miss it, but the stress it induces is just not worth it any more.
I work as a tutor in math and other natural sciences. Most parents and students start by saying their teacher sucks and thats why they need me. Mostly, I know that is wrong. I have it much easier, only one student instead of 20-40. Also I pick my students, normal teachers don't have this luxury. They have to deal with whatever students appear. I really like most teachers cause they do a hard and important job. Some of them are also at fault, but mostof them are really great. I loved most of my teachers.
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YOU ARE SOOOOOO VERY, VERY CORRECT!! Why, when, how, where and what will it take to realize-(and I do mean like: yesterday, already!)-that it is NOT the sole responsibilities of a Teacher to -Do It ALL, Be ALL, Teach ALL!???!!!???! - Wake up in this WORLD! -Things are VERY DIFFERENT! -Yet, we have still NOT adapted OUR own competencies, knowledge, understandings, nor come close to begin calculating what will happen without any teachers for our schools??? OUR OWN PREPAREDNESS for planning real solutions with knowledgeable strategies...truly begins with each one of Us, working together as One. It begins at home, within ourselves, forward!!
I'm sorry but I blame the parents and kids, every child can be tamed if you know how, I'm a supply teacher and the student DO NOT treat me like how they treat their regular teacher, they wouldn't dare
Last year, my son, in first grade, came home telling me that another boy in his class had a temper tantrum and flipped his desk over. We are talking about 6 years old here. I was shocked. This is the same school I attended as a kid and this kind of b******t would have never been tolerated when I was little. And sadly it was not an isolated incident.
I agree! However not all teachers are good teachers. I know quite a few locally that dont give a single care about their students. To them it is just a job. No, that does not justify them being abused, rather it may be a result of the abuse itself! Parents need to make their kids take responsibility for their own actions. Parents need to do so themselves too. The teacher should be able to file a police report on a student for the abuse, just as a parent should do the same if the teacher is abusing the student. Law dont change because of your age or profession.
I have a few friends that trained to be teachers, they all quit because of this abusive BS and lack of support from parents and the schools...
My mother was a teacher in elementary school for 26 years. Teaching is one of the most emotionally and mentally draining professions there is. She loved her students, but couldn't stand the politics of the job. She never saw the kids as the problem, but some of the parents. One of her students was on edge all the time because he was expected to be an A- student and nothing less. Also the fact that here in Texas the teachers are mainly preparing the kids for standardized testing has taken the fun out of school. Being a teacher is hard, especially when you don't have help from the parents, the principal, or the administrators.
We should be supporting teachers more, especially parents. I only work with kids in a theatre setting, but we have stopped the practice of meeting the kids after the show for photos. Actors were being abused right in front of the parents, who would either not notice or laugh and take photos of the bad behaviour. I can only imagine what teachers go through.
And yet although it's recognised as a problem in many countries, absolutely nothing is being done. I guess it will have to wait until politicians understand that this climate affects education itself and therefore eventually the economy.
Nothing will be done and nothing can be done. You can’t make people act less entitled and be better parents. Politicians don’t even have an interest in a smarter population because then it would be harder for them to get votes. There’s really no solution other than only allowing certain folks to breed and that would be eugenics and we’d be Nazis for trying it.
Load More Replies...Bring back APPROPRIATE corporal punishment. You need to pat the dough during the formative stage of bread.
That only works if the parents don’t think their snot nosed worthless child is the center of the universe and they (the parents) are goddesses and gods just for s******g out a baby like 90% of the population. You can beat a kid until it almost dies and that kid will heal up and act like a dumbfuck idiot if it has parents that don’t parent right.
Load More Replies...I noticed an error too, but maybe she (?) isn’t an English teacher or maybe she was typing fast and was emotional.
Load More Replies...I do not envy teachers at all. They are overworked, under paid and under appreciated. So many teachers are leaving the profession in droves due to the stress, abuse, pay and workload etc. In Australia alone 40% of teachers will leave the profession within the first 5 years.
I have a relative who works in a private school - which is another story entirely. But with regards to public schools, I do not envy teachers at all, I would never want their job; neither do I envy bus drivers nor daycare workers. My day job is in digital marketing, yeah I make more money a year than a lot of teachers. But back to my relative who teaches a tech course at a private school: his class is very small (16 students), the students are well-behaved and eager to learn, he makes very good money, well above what a public school teacher in the same field makes. He does not have an education degree (which is not needed in a private school) but he does have his Master's in computer tech.
Load More Replies...Parents have been consistently undermining teacher's authority for years, and now we see the results. And administration is too afraid of putting a foot down to all those Karens and Kevins who won't even try to instill some empathy to their kids.
SO MUCH OF THIS. You are absolutely right. Admin says "fill out an incident report (on your break) and get back in the classroom" And don't make a scene. Let it go.
Load More Replies...Unfortunately, our society is sick quite sometime now. Little ones with such toxic behaviour ,it's just a reflection.
Little ones with toxic behavior and no consequences... actually that's part of the cause.
Load More Replies...I can verify. I was a teacher, I had a nervous breakdown, and I'm not a teacher anymore.
Can I ask when was this and what happened? Would you say that teaching is different now than it was 20 years ago?
Load More Replies...She is right...when my daughter was in high school freshman & sophomore year was a nightmare. The first time I got called into a parent teacher conference, the teacher was talking to me about her bad behavior, then my daughter started yelling at him. I slammed my hand on the table and told her that if she raises her voice again I will reach across this table and snatch you up. The faculty was shocked because they are usually dealing with parents that blame them instead of realizing that their child isn't an angel. I went from totally having her back to leaving with my daughter in tears since she got caught because if she could disrespect an adult so vilely in my presence then who knows how she treated him during the school day. I left them with my work email since it alerts to my desk and phone and told them to message me if there is any other issue. Teachers need support and these kids need to learn respect.
If you don’t mind me asking, what did the kids do to her?
Load More Replies...I realized how bad things were getting when we, kids about 15yo, looked at students 2-3 years younger than us and wondered "wtf is wrong with those kids". And we were by no means a perfectly behaved class. That was more than 10 years ago and from what I hear things have gotten steadily worse. In my experience the biggest problem are the parents - it seems few people these days know how (or want) to teach their kids how to behave.
It starts at home. Quit allowing your kids to do whatever they want, actually discipline them, know that word? Negative reinforcement works well if you’re against spanking. Some of the kids I’ve seen though need to be spanked
You can punish without corporal punishment, m8. Just take away their privileges all the gadgets, TV privileges, etc. If they say "they're bored" you give them two options: A book or do chores. Any gripe and that's a demerit and longer punishment term. Good behavior/grades will help earn back with privileges. Punish the mind, not the body.
Load More Replies...I'm nice to all my teachers! Even if I don't like them for whatever reason or if I'm having a bad day I don't take it out on them because it wasn't their fault. Even if I don't know them, im a freshman in high school this year and of course, since its a new school I didn't know where some of my classes were and I went up to a teacher helping students find them and I said "Hi! Can you tell me the way to room *whatever*?" and she told me and i started going that way and when I was talking away I overheard other students being mean to her. I still visit my teacher from 6th grade and she said im one of her favorite she ever had when I actually had her a couple of students made her cry and everyone was making fun of her for crying but i went up to her a hugged her. and even if they give me a bad grade, I talk to them after class to see what I can do to fix it, not curse them out(which somebody did in my English class last Friday)
I've worked as an aide for 7 yrs now. I love working with kids but it can be super stressful. I've been called vile names and threatened with violence all because I asked the student to stop disrupting the class. The office doesnt punish them, the parents don't care. They do no work and come to school to fool around. I try to focus on the behaved kids but it is very stressful.
I've been teaching for 5 years and working in schools for 10 in the UK. We have huge issues here with assessment processes, parental and public views, workload and that does not include ensuring we deliver effective, engaging lessons where pupils achieve. I have sadly seen fantastic teachers leave the profession for many reasons and unfortunately this is continuing. Our government only ever wants more from us and like the article states, little is done to support the teachers. There is no way for us to be heard as we are all in the toxic position of trying not to upset management, parents, colleagues, children or worst of all, our own families. We have to cope or go on strike and miss out on pay for the day, which I have never actually done due to the poor pay. I love my job, but without changes being made there are fewer teachers speaking positively about the role and therefore less getting into teaching. Thank you for the support in this article it is always appreciated.
Well, let's be clear: the school systems, including the teachers, have enabled this behavior. They stopped punishing students and started tolerating the bad behavior, so, it just grew and became the norm. Sure, there were always bad kids, kids that acted out, kids being kids. They used to get punished. When parents undermined the authority of the teachers, the school system set them straight. No longer. Schools now kow-tow to every single belief set of the kids. Want to blow school off for some demonstration? Sure thing, little snowflake! You get the behavior you enable. Don't complain when you get it.
The problem with the type of punishment you are describing is that it doesn't set the child up for life. My own approach is to set the pupils up with the tools and strategies to manage their own behaviour rather than wait to get punished and act well behaved through fear. It actually works and is life changing. I am not complaining or enabling bad behaviour.
Load More Replies...My mum is a teacher and it kills me to see the stress she goes through dealing with her class every. friggin. day. For her a 'good day' at school is a day she doesnt have a break down. I wish so bad she'd find a different job, or at least move to an all girls school because (don't attack me for saying it) 90% of her difficult students are male. :'(
So sad. But unfortunately true and not an overreaction. I'm one of those kids whose parents went without a tremendous amount to put me through a private education for at least some of my schooling. Didn't fit in with the pretentious brats from wealthy backgrounds. But by god we were taught respect. ALL teachers were "Sir" and "Miss"; we had to stand whenever someone entered the room; leave if we misbehaved; god forbid your name went in the terrifying Black Book, which meant your misdemeanour would be referenced by the Headmaster during assembly. There were the usual punishments of detention etc. But that might, for example, incorporate an essay on "respect" (Christ knows how I manage to waffle for two sides of A4, but it landed the point). House Points (long before Harry Potter!) would be deducted if you screwed up, so your peers would then have a go. Teachers treated us like young adults and we were taught to behave like them. Is that too much to ask?
That was because it was probably the 80’s and 90’s when you were in school. Private school or not, it doesn’t matter. You were taught how to act because people’s parents in our generation didn’t make the world revolve around children and we knew our parents wouldn’t be on our side if we f****d up. Kids now live in a fantasy world made just for them. The world is made for and caters to children now. We waited patiently through the 80s and 90s to become adults and get adult benefits and as SOON as we came of age, everything reversed and suddenly kids were in charge. We got screwed and the parents who are our age are to blame.
Load More Replies...You could easily replace teacher with health care worker. Lets face it, people are becoming more violent, more belligerent, more entitled and obnoxious.
Health Care Workers make 5 times what a teacher makes with the same level of degree. At least the world accepts that you need to make a living. Teachers hear the demeaning self-justifying lies that the public tells itself, ie., "teachers don't work for money. " Since this has been universally accepted the US teaching profession is down 80%. It seems teachers heard you and figured they needed to make money. They decided to work of a living instead of nothing. LOL
Load More Replies...Yeah. This is what happens when society embraces "relative truth" ideology. This is also what happens when parents raise their kids with the "respect of others has to be earned" mentality. Instead of insisting their children respect all adults they encounter they allow them to be disrespectful. No, it's not ok that your six year old mouths back at an adult because to your six year old that adult hasn't "earned" their respect yet. I have two kids and I make sure they respect their teachers no matter if they agree with them or not. We have to stop this "relative truth" nonsense.
Can any young people or long term teachers please explain to me what the HELL happened?? I went to grade school in the 90’s and I don’t remember it being like this. Sometimes violent or verbally abusive outbursts happened with kids but those kids got in deep trouble with administration and parents, and it wasn’t that common. How and why is it so different now? I don’t remember any of this before.
Peoples attitudes are changing and there is more of "punishing or disciplining kids is bad", "saying no to kids is bad", "everyone wins and gets a trophy", "my child is an angel" etc etc.
Load More Replies...I never wanted to be a teacher because I knew all this. In fact, I agree with the post but I call it out to be a tad too emotional. She does not have to love all her students. She can just pay attention to them and guide them by being a respectable rolemodel kind of human. Yes the teacher is human. They know that. Don't try to be an enduring goddess, yell if necessary. Kids can be super mean. Especially in those puberty years, when Highschool means life and death. OF COURSE teachers are gonna get it. But this is just very normal and the hard crazy life. Imagine the parents life, imagine the life of teachers in developping countries, imagine the kids journey itself. Don't sugarcoat the job. Just focus on the job. And next time a student tells you they wanna kill you, scare him.
I'd agree with you normally, but it's really not as easy. Whatever you do or say can spread voices about you and be misinterpreted as abuse, even leading to legal consequences and in the end it's the teacher who gets the poop. Scare them? Yes, do it, but be careful on your scaring method.
Load More Replies...Although I do agree that teachers are human beings and deserve to be treated obviously with dignity and respect they have the authority to revert the toxic behaviour..there is bound to be some sort of punishment system for difficult students in all schools. In fact, it's in school that children learn how to behave and what kind of behaviour gets them punished and rewarded...teachers like her need to understand how to stamp the foot down on such behavior v
Valerie - I don't think you understand because you aren't there. The reason these problems are happening is because the teachers DON'T have the authority to do anything! Have you ever been written up for asking the administration to help you with a problem student? I know plenty of teachers who have! Have you called for help when a student is cursing and ripping down your classroom, maliciously throwing pencils at the other kids or trying grab at other students ankles in the 3rd grade just to have no help arrive or for the child to be sent back without any consequences? Or have you been told don't send them to ISS because there is no more room? I have. There is no fear from the students of punishment because the consequences have been removed and the state has told the school they can only have so many referrals for ISS without being reprimanded by the state. Teaching in many schools is toxic, and it is NOT the the teachers' fault. Their hands are tied.
Load More Replies...I worked with special needs children for ten years. I loved my job. I remember every one of those kids. My absolute favorite was in my class the very first year, and for two additional years (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade). He has Down Syndrom and the very first day I worked with him, he bit my inner arm, right below the elbow. The bruise was massive, and stuck around for two months afterwards. He was non verbal, and violence was his means of communicating. It wasn't just adults getting assaulted. He targeted other children in the classroom, and in the hallways he would lunge for "regular ed" kids. We received no support from the parents, who instead of addressing their child's behavior blamed us and said it must be our fault he behaves that way at school. Administration offered no support. The county behavior specialist came out once a month, but that was a joke. He was so overworked and had so many cases to manage he couldn't do much with us or this child. We basically just had to deal.
this is true, sometimes loving people means setting boundaries- some parents still don't get, the child that "always gets everything they want" is not happy- and that the school can't do all the parenting for you. School systems shouldn't let people get away with being jerks- it's a pretty similar attitude to customer service. "let them be jerks, they give us money"- but in the long term, in exchange for money, you give up power... which is far more valuable. in short our society has become very afraid of confrontation, and the confrontations we do have are handled inappropriately or with inexperience
That kid goes in to treatment and the parents , by law need to attend family therapy with their kids! There is a reason the kids use that kind of behavior to solve problems! The school is often at fault in the case of bullying, again not stopping the situation and holding the kid and parents accountable! Solve the problems, don't keep pushing it down the line and let that kid kill, maim or seriously injure another teacher, or other kids! It doesn't have to be this way! Teachers need some kind of organization like a rape counselor is to a victim. To help them stay safe, and prosecute the kids and parents. Otherwise, mayhem will always ensue, and no one will be safe, ever.
Why don't teachers unions do something? Teachers should be paid way more than they are! They are like soldiers on the front line dealing with road side bombers that want to hurt you, because they don't like what you say, or how your rules for common social behavior doesn't include violence or assault or verbal abuse and threats. I think, these parents should be having assault charges filed against them, and their a*****e behaving kids! Just because it's done in school and by a kid, doesn't make it ok, and un punishable! That kid should be removed from school, by a parent, the parent told what the child did, and the parent told assault charges have been filed against their kid! We all know kids have access to guns and will get them and use them! Parents should be held accountable, as well as these kids! Get them in to a facility and assessed for mental health issues, and let the parents know, they will be held accountable. If they are found to have a kid they can't control, then ,
Kids can be evil, and the parents are no help at all because they think that their angels are above reproach. When I was in 7th grade, my geography teacher left due to a nervous breakdown. The same happened again to another teacher in 8th grade. I don't think that either of them ever returned to this profession.
It's not just little kids either. My fiance has been teaching for 17 years in high school. She was directly told by her principal that if she is hurt by a student or there is a fight to call the office and ONLY the office. In other words, never involve the police. She told me that her first call would be to 911 if she were attacked. I agree, she shouldn't have to risk her safety because a principal believes that kids will be kids. It is one of several reasons why this highly qualified teacher is leaving education next year. She will miss it, but the stress it induces is just not worth it any more.
I work as a tutor in math and other natural sciences. Most parents and students start by saying their teacher sucks and thats why they need me. Mostly, I know that is wrong. I have it much easier, only one student instead of 20-40. Also I pick my students, normal teachers don't have this luxury. They have to deal with whatever students appear. I really like most teachers cause they do a hard and important job. Some of them are also at fault, but mostof them are really great. I loved most of my teachers.
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YOU ARE SOOOOOO VERY, VERY CORRECT!! Why, when, how, where and what will it take to realize-(and I do mean like: yesterday, already!)-that it is NOT the sole responsibilities of a Teacher to -Do It ALL, Be ALL, Teach ALL!???!!!???! - Wake up in this WORLD! -Things are VERY DIFFERENT! -Yet, we have still NOT adapted OUR own competencies, knowledge, understandings, nor come close to begin calculating what will happen without any teachers for our schools??? OUR OWN PREPAREDNESS for planning real solutions with knowledgeable strategies...truly begins with each one of Us, working together as One. It begins at home, within ourselves, forward!!
I'm sorry but I blame the parents and kids, every child can be tamed if you know how, I'm a supply teacher and the student DO NOT treat me like how they treat their regular teacher, they wouldn't dare
Last year, my son, in first grade, came home telling me that another boy in his class had a temper tantrum and flipped his desk over. We are talking about 6 years old here. I was shocked. This is the same school I attended as a kid and this kind of b******t would have never been tolerated when I was little. And sadly it was not an isolated incident.
I agree! However not all teachers are good teachers. I know quite a few locally that dont give a single care about their students. To them it is just a job. No, that does not justify them being abused, rather it may be a result of the abuse itself! Parents need to make their kids take responsibility for their own actions. Parents need to do so themselves too. The teacher should be able to file a police report on a student for the abuse, just as a parent should do the same if the teacher is abusing the student. Law dont change because of your age or profession.
I have a few friends that trained to be teachers, they all quit because of this abusive BS and lack of support from parents and the schools...
My mother was a teacher in elementary school for 26 years. Teaching is one of the most emotionally and mentally draining professions there is. She loved her students, but couldn't stand the politics of the job. She never saw the kids as the problem, but some of the parents. One of her students was on edge all the time because he was expected to be an A- student and nothing less. Also the fact that here in Texas the teachers are mainly preparing the kids for standardized testing has taken the fun out of school. Being a teacher is hard, especially when you don't have help from the parents, the principal, or the administrators.
We should be supporting teachers more, especially parents. I only work with kids in a theatre setting, but we have stopped the practice of meeting the kids after the show for photos. Actors were being abused right in front of the parents, who would either not notice or laugh and take photos of the bad behaviour. I can only imagine what teachers go through.
And yet although it's recognised as a problem in many countries, absolutely nothing is being done. I guess it will have to wait until politicians understand that this climate affects education itself and therefore eventually the economy.
Nothing will be done and nothing can be done. You can’t make people act less entitled and be better parents. Politicians don’t even have an interest in a smarter population because then it would be harder for them to get votes. There’s really no solution other than only allowing certain folks to breed and that would be eugenics and we’d be Nazis for trying it.
Load More Replies...Bring back APPROPRIATE corporal punishment. You need to pat the dough during the formative stage of bread.
That only works if the parents don’t think their snot nosed worthless child is the center of the universe and they (the parents) are goddesses and gods just for s******g out a baby like 90% of the population. You can beat a kid until it almost dies and that kid will heal up and act like a dumbfuck idiot if it has parents that don’t parent right.
Load More Replies...I noticed an error too, but maybe she (?) isn’t an English teacher or maybe she was typing fast and was emotional.
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