Being a teacher is one of the hardest jobs ever. Every single day, they have to be a guide for their students, who sometimes might not behave in a polite way. To draw our attention to the problems of modern education, Jessica Gentry, who worked in a kindergarten, decided to share how stressful the life of a teacher can really be. In her Facebook post, she shared 5 reasons why she had to quit the job that she loved the most, and, according to her, it had nothing to do with money.
We at The Elite Indian believe that Jessica’s words could change your attitude toward teachers, so we’d like to share them in this article.
1. “Modern kids have changed” is only an excuse.
Jessica believes that the problem is not in the kids but society and the way of modern parenting, in particular. Kids are kids, they are just innocent victims of that change.
Today, parents are working crazy hours, they’re always consumed by their devices, and there’s the terrible influence of social media. As parents don’t spend enough time with their kids, they can’t discipline them properly, and then classrooms become the first place they’ve ever heard “no.”
Normally, kids throw tantrums at home because it’s safe, because they know that their mistakes will be treated with kindness and their parent will teach them how to behave in a better way. But if they don’t feel that safe environment near their parents, they start flipping tables at school, and their teachers get the additional task of setting healthy boundaries and explaining them to students.
2. Modern kids can’t learn how to socialize.
Most people think that today we need “21st century” schools where students work face to face with various technologies and devices.
However, according to Jessica, kids already can’t read social cues and behave themselves appropriately in social settings. They’re forgetting the basics of relationship building because they don’t communicate with each other as much as we used to do. So if we toss even more devices at them because “it just looks good on our website,” the situation will only become worse.
3. Teachers need less instructions and more time with kids.
Since that technology approach doesn’t seem to be working, teachers need more training in order to interact with their students in a better way. But, instead, they have lots of useless periods for planning and assessment that they have to attend during ordinary school days. And that’s actually time they could spend with their students. Jessica believes that this time spent away from the kids is utterly worthless.
4. We’ve adopted a customer service mindset.
Jessica says that today parents are never held accountable for their actions, even when they’re being absolutely unreasonable. On social media, they talk about attendance a lot and don’t understand why teachers aren’t satisfied when a kid misses their classes. “I can’t teach your child if he’s not in school,” Jessica continues.
She believes that we should make parents true partners in the process of educating their kids. But, unfortunately, the reality is quite different — parents allow themselves to yell at teachers, sit on their phones the whole time during field trips, and even believe that teachers shouldn’t say “no” to their children.
5. Teachers’ mental and physical health suffers every single day.
Despite all of her love for her students, Jessica had to quit her job because she knew that the kids needed and deserved more than they were getting and couldn’t do anything about it. She had to sit in one meeting after another and beg for more support, but everything was in vain.
“When you love your kids and are passionate about your mission, these messages tear you apart,” Jessica writes. She just couldn’t bear watching them come in dirty clothes, with chaos at home, and knowing that they needed more than she could give them in a classroom of 21, with less and less support.
Bonus: How you can help your child’s teacher
As a former teacher who knows everything about schooling from the inside, Jessica also decided to share some of the things parents could do to make teachers’ lives a bit easier:
- Volunteer your time — read to your kids, offer to laminate, cut, copy, help with the bulletin board, always provide supervision and support, join field trips. Ask grandparents and in-laws for help.
- If you aren’t able to volunteer your time, donate items. Healthy snacks, board games, puzzles, books. Ask if they have any special projects that they need materials for.
- Model good character and behavior. Set expectations for respecting their teacher by showing respect to their teacher yourself.
Do you agree with Jessica’s points? What’s your opinion about the process of modern education? Please, share your thoughts in the comments.
Preview photo credit Jessica Gentry / facebook
