There are many professions that we may consider and we might even have an idea of what we want to be from the time we are very young. Although some of those dreams may fade, many people who want to be teachers will end up following that dream.
For those individuals, teaching is more than a job that they go to every day, it is a way of life. They consider the children to be the most important thing in their lives and they will often dedicate themselves fully to the process.
Although that may be true, there are also times when a teacher may find their dreams shattered by the reality of the situation at the school. Perhaps it is the children that are giving them a hard time or, more likely, it is the parents.
Some parents have suggestions that may be helpful to the teachers but others tend to be helicopter parents that put too much pressure on the teachers. In other words, they try to do the teacher’s job and they don’t allow them to put their skills to good use.
Jessica Gentry is a teacher who experienced this difficulty. In fact, she eventually had enough of the treatment she was getting from parents so she went on Facebook to let people know about her feelings.
The Facebook post was more than an honest recall of what was happening in her life. She outlined five different reasons why the stress of her job was causing her to walk away from it.
What might come as a surprise to you is that the amount of money she made had nothing to do with it. Rather, she was struggling with a number of unique issues but many teachers who responded to the post let her know that she wasn’t alone.
Here is what she had to say:
Reason 1. First of all, she was upset that parents were not taking responsibility for the actions of their children. Parenting has changed over the years, including with many parents working longer hours and children being preoccupied with too much screen time.
She said: “Our classrooms are the first place they’ve ever heard ‘no’, been given boundaries, shown love through respect. The old excuse “the kids have changed”. No. No friggin way. Kids are kids. PARENTING has changed. SOCIETY has changed.”
Reason 2. She also complained about the technology behind education and how it keeps children from being able to react to society.
She said: “forget the basics of relationship building and hands on learning. Kids already can’t read social cues and conduct themselves appropriately in social settings… let’s toss more devices at them because it looks good on our website. During an interview, one division asked me “how are you with technology? That’s important to us”. Uhhh… I hear Bobo the chimpanzee is pretty tech savvy… I consider myself pretty great with kids.”
Reason 3. She had a complaint about how long teachers had to plan and prepare for the upcoming lessons. She used to use her time preparing for the students but now she is working on helping teachers with technology.
She said: “We had to attend a training on a school day (time missed with students) then it took us THREE WEEKS to administer it… one on one… to 21 students. Such. A. Waste. All of the info I could have told you about them without taking away from precious instructional time.”
Reason 4. She holds parents accountable for their actions. She was frustrated about their mindset and would rather make them a partner in the child’s education.
She said: “I’ve seen the Facebook rants about attendance and getting “the letter”. Well, here’s the thing… I can’t teach your child if he’s not in school. I was cussed out by parents who wanted to attend field trips but missed the THREE notes that went home–and when they did attend a trip, sat on their phone the entire time. I’ve had parents stand me up multiple times on Conference Days then call to tattle on me when I refused to offer an after-school option. I’ve had parents tell me that I’m not allowed to tell their child ‘no’…”
Reason 5. To round things out, she complained about the meetings she had and the amount of support she needed.
She said: “Sitting in one meeting after another, begging for more support, only to be told ‘don’t lose sleep over them ‘… when you LOVE your kids and are PASSIONATE about your mission… these messages tear you apart.”