Teaching in 2024 has become increasingly challenging and frustrating. Recently, we shared stories from teachers who opened up about the “hard truths” about their students that parents need to start listening to and accepting. Following that, over 400 more teachers of the BuzzFeed Community shared their experiences and the harsh realities they want parents to hear. Here are their brutally honest responses.
1
“I am a substitute teacher — kids need to hear ‘no.’ They do not respect authority. Parents are letting the phones and computers raise the kids. I’ve seen most kids NOT know how to tie their shoes from pre-k to seventh grade. They are not taught at home, and we get so tired of teaching every child to tie their shoes. It takes 30 seconds to tie shoes.”
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2
“Allow your child to experience failure without you choosing to ‘fix it.’ Students should be held accountable for missed assignments, defying phone restrictions, using profanity in the classroom when it is not appropriate, lying to cover aberrant behavior, bullying, and […]
What a wonderfully radical article. It is radical because in our culture speaking truth is a radical act. We have spent decades dis-empowering parents and strengthening the power of educational administration. The powers that be have also spend these decades sowing fear in the population which went on steroids following 9/11. The points made are quite valid, and supporting parents to actually parent while holding children accountable for their behavior would be a profound and positive change. Having worked in school settings I can attest to the decline over the years. One of the foundational texts I encountered as a young therapist was “Reality Therapy” by William Glasser. Still as relevant today as it was then, and sad for us that we didn’t heed its method. One piece of advice I would give to teachers in return is: Don’t denigrate taxpaying citizens when they become involved in how their dollars are spent. You don’t want to be thrust into roles not appropriate for your profession and we don’t want to be denigrated for our opinions regarding our own money. I would remind educational professionals that Tax dollars are not an entitlement. Think and vote outside the box.