Tenured Teacher Says Kids Have ‘All The Power’ After He Was Placed On Leave Following ‘Made Up’ Rumors
"If you want to be a teacher, I suggest you run from the profession."
pixelshot / Canva Pro In an exasperated post from Reddit’s “Teacher” forum, one tenured teacher made a plea to anyone looking to join the industry or become a teacher — “Don’t do it.” Not only was he manipulated by entitled students and parents, he was forced to sacrifice his reputation to keep his job.
“What was once a rewarding career has turned into bitter, angry student management and apathy.”
A teacher said he was placed on ‘leave’ after angry students made up rumors about him — ‘Kids have all the power.’
A typical day for this teacher turned sour quickly when he realized he was being placed on leave. Not only was it a shock to learn he’d be going home, but it was even more alarming when he realized he was being condemned over student rumors.
“I was put on admin leave because students in one class, who had C’s and their parents were on their [expletive], made up lies about me,” the teacher wrote. “After that, I learned that within two weeks, five other teachers were put on leave just in the schools in my neighborhood, which is part of a large city district.”
With intense power dynamics already seeping into schools, especially following rises in student misbehavior, it’s not a surprise that many students report not having a strong connection with their teachers in the classroom. This relationship, which usually cultivates trust, honesty, and, most importantly, respect between teachers and students, is important to ensuring a healthy learning environment.
However, this relationship wasn't formed for this teacher, and it’s taking a toll on his students' behavior.
“At my school, I was the fourth teacher to be put on leave in as many years,” he added, acknowledging the growing problem he noticed.
After getting a few bad grades, he said the students ‘made up lies’ to get their revenge.
“I am cleared now after an eight-month investigation,” he wrote. "I am 100% cleared … and so are all of the other teachers.”
While he did not say whether he was paid during this time, he made one thing clear — he’s not anxious to return to the profession. In the face of this kind of disrespect from students, failure to provide support from leadership and pure job instability, it’s not worth it to continue fighting what seems to be a misguided moral high ground for people in the occupation.
Hsyncoban / CanvaPro
Not only does he feel unsupported by leadership who failed to advocate for him following student rumors from the beginning, but he also feels disrespected by his students.
Without this teacher-student connection, which is so fundamental to healthy classrooms, especially today, the students struggle academically and socially and feel empowered to dehumanize their teachers.
Despite being 100% cleared of the false rumors, the tenured teacher said his desperation and apathy made him want to quit altogether.
“What was once a rewarding career has turned into bitter, angry student management and apathy,” he wrote. “If you want to be a teacher, run from the profession. This will only get worse.”
As of June 2023, over 50,000 teachers had left the profession, a number that has only grown more rapidly in recent months. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is impossible when you’re dealing with so much on top of teaching.
Financial stress from being underpaid, mental and physical distress from dealing with students, and, of course, failing infrastructure, poor educational administration, and parents — it’s too much to balance on top of the actual job.
Unless something fundamental changes that allows teachers to focus on cultivating healthy relationships and teaching, the cycle is only going to continue.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.