Teacher Quitting After 24 Years Says The ‘New Type Of Parent’ Is To Blame
Frame Stock Footage | Shutterstock The ongoing concern about Gen Alpha’s classroom behavior and teachers’ declining patience continues to worsen despite efforts to raise awareness of this paramount issue.
One teacher explained she has spent more time “putting out fires” in the classroom than actually teaching, and she's pointing the finger at her students' parents as the source of the problem. Unfortunately, without hope for change, she's leaving the profession after decades as a teacher.
The teacher admitted she is quitting after 24 years of teaching due to the ‘new type of parent’ she has to contend with.
The teacher, who goes by @fitpeanut on TikTok, took to the app to express her intolerance for the profession, and she attributed her distress to her students' parents.
“I am going to speak for teachers who can’t speak because they’re still in the profession,” she said. “Education has changed so much that it is unbearable, and this is why there’s a teacher shortage. I have seen education change in 24 years, and it hasn’t changed for the better.”
The teacher explained that, based on her students’ lack of engagement or care, parents are not prioritizing their education. Students attend school without basic supplies like pencils, pens, and notebooks, although parents are aware that these are essential items their children need.
She further stated that she has only ever mustered around 20 minutes of teaching per class period because of unnecessary disruptions, which require her to spend the bulk of the period redirecting her students and repeating the same information.
Parents frequently demand early dismissals and extended vacations, requiring her to put together special lesson plans, so they don't fall behind.
She argued that teachers are expected to be babysitters instead of actual educators.
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On top of the usual disruptions, she noted that special-needs students aren't getting the attention and care they need. “I’m the only person in the room,” she said. “There isn’t a teacher’s aid, there isn’t another special ed person in here with me, and I have 33 to 34 students.”
She assured viewers she was not condemning kids who require extra attention, but she lamented the lack of resources to provide it, including engagement from parents.
It’s no secret that the real teaching always begins at home, with parents. Teachers are responsible for continuing that foundation in the classroom. Unfortunately, when parents fail to emphasize the importance of school, it only makes the teacher’s job much more challenging.
“The interruptions are insurmountable, so trying to teach is virtually impossible,” she added. “We as teachers have become babysitters.”
Teaching is not an easy profession, and parents should not be making the job harder than it already is.
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This has always been the case, as kids and teens can be difficult to manage. But in recent years, this dilemma has only escalated into a larger issue, and this teacher thinks it has everything to do with the style of parenting these kids are being raised with, or lack thereof.
“Many of these kids do not care, and they don’t care because their parents don’t care,” the teacher said.
As she pointed out, this "new type of parent" is to blame for Gen Alpha’s inability to focus, follow directions, or even attend class. Teachers are going above and beyond to teach these kids the importance of education, but according to the teacher, these efforts go unnoticed and ignored.
“We’re putting out fires every two to three minutes, and that’s not an over-exaggeration; that is the truth,” she emphasized. “I can no longer deal with the new type of parent and the new type of child that is a product of the parent that I am trying to teach.”
Teachers are more underappreciated than ever, and while those who are grateful for their efforts exist, they are waning.
It's sad but understandable why this teacher is leaving her career. For her, it's no longer about educating. And sadly, she's not alone in her thinking. In a survey of superintendents, a whopping 81% said their biggest concern with todays schooling was student behavior.
“Teaching has become a dying profession. I for one have 24 years of experience, and I am leaving,” she stated. “I planned to stay for another, I don’t know, 10 years. Not doing it anymore. So another experienced teacher bites the dust.”
Unfortunately, we're careening towards an academically challenged generation that will struggle in many aspects of life, and no one else has the power to change it other than their parents. The teachers try, but they can only do so much before they reach a level of burnout that inhibits their ability to go on.
Francesca Duarte is a writer based in Orlando, FL. She covers lifestyle, human-interest, and spirituality topics.
