Kids…

By Courtney - 26/05/2016 12:12 - United States

Today, at my job as a teacher, I saw a student cut another student's hair, I stopped a group of students from eating glue, and I had to tell a student to put away the toy cars he was playing with. I teach high school math. FML
I agree, your life sucks 17 368
You deserved it 1 260

Same thing different taste

Top comments

lexiieeex3 32

I really sympathize with our public school's teachers. They have to deal with so much crap that isn't in their job description but they stick it out and do it with a smile (most of the time) because they are not just teaching students math or science or English, but how to not be stupid little *****.

This is also a story on a site devoted to shitty events. It comes with the mother-of-all sampling biases; nobody looks good in these stories.

Comments

This makes me so excited for the next generation....

This is also a story on a site devoted to shitty events. It comes with the mother-of-all sampling biases; nobody looks good in these stories.

TigranPet 24

The idea of summer break around the corner really got to them.

silvermoon5033 26

It was probably the stress of finals that made them crack

lexiieeex3 32

I really sympathize with our public school's teachers. They have to deal with so much crap that isn't in their job description but they stick it out and do it with a smile (most of the time) because they are not just teaching students math or science or English, but how to not be stupid little *****.

or at least attempting to. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

So this stuff doesn't happen in Private schools then? Is that what you're saying? Because I know people who've been to private schools and they say it was really bad some of them didn't learn anything and a lot of them were worse off than in public schools

All of that is a teachers job. If the teacher isn't holding the students interest or able to control their students then the teacher is failing. Yes we all know the system is broken. Main reason is we don't pay teachers enough, therefore we don't attract the right talent into that profession. When you have decades of shitty schools you have shitty professionals and therefore shitty educators, who in turn make even shittier professionals and even shittier educators ect ect. Step up and do your job better the world is counting on you. Stop bitching about it on FML and inspire these kids to learn, because they are going to be the ones who change it for better or worse. Teachers have arguably one of the most important jobs in the world. No room for a person who expects it to be easy. Cowboy up or YDI.

Garnetshaddow 30

So, 32... Are you a teacher? Do you work with kids? I seriously doubt it. It is a hard job. The only people who go for it are very very dedicated. It's not a high paying job. People like you also make sure there is never any thanks in it. I'm studying to teach high school history. I'm pretty sure I'll have a few days like this and not everybody will be enthralled by my subject. That's called life. But if a teacher is only human... they suck? I just finished up a school year at an elementary school, where I supervised lunch. Some days, we couldn't inspire the kids to eat. They were picky, bored, angry, hyper, having drama, or any number of things. We did our best. Am I a failure too? BTW, Judging by your grammar, all of your past teachers are disappointed in you.

32, I've taught high school English for 16 years. There are millions of reasons why a student might not be paying attention or doing well in class, and most of them are beyond my control. Sure, I might be boring, but I've also had students who were homeless, didn't know where their next meal would come from, had to work to support their family, had to raise brothers or sisters (or their own children), had abusive parents, lived in foster homes, had parents in jail or deported, been in gangs, not been in gangs, but had to walk through dangerous gang territory to get to school, had substance abuse issues, had a fight with a boyfriend/girlfriend, struggled with sexual or gender identity, been dyslexic or had other learning or emotional disabilities, witnessed crimes, been raped/molested, been forced to constantly move around and change schools because of rising rent prices, don't speak English as a first language and are denied access to ESL classes, going through puberty and changing hormones, are absolute spoiled turds who don't care, or had any number of issues or problems I haven't covered here that impact their ability to pay attention in class. Not to mention that I have 180 students a semester, to deal with the school district's red tape, federal and state laws, parents who expect me to raise their child in the five hours a week I see them, and a society that tells me to "cowboy up" and do my job when a student struggles. The problems of society should not be blamed on the school system and teachers. Believe me, a lot of my students have issues far beyond the scope of my classroom walls. Are there bad teachers? Sure, just like there are bad doctors, bad police officers, bad cashiers, bad people of every profession. I'm not going to fix every student or reach every student. But I still try.

While I believe teachers deserve to be paid more, paying more is NOT how you get people who actually care about the children.

lexiieeex3 32

32- Teachers don't go into the profession for the money. They do it because they love kids and want to make a lasting impact. That being said, more money wouldn't help any. Yes, the system is broken. But not because of teachers --teachers deserve a whole lot more credit than they are given, because it is one of the most important jobs in the world. But it's not easy. Teachers are human too. Some kids are easier and more well behaved or adaptable than others and some teaches get "easier" students to handle or classes to manage. But those who teach the more "difficult" students are suddenly at fault for expressing their bad day on a **** my life website? Isn't that what this site is for? Talking or venting about our bad days? It doesn't mean all of our days are bad, it means we had one bad day and it's over and we are over it. But that doesn't mean it didn't suck. Everyone in the entire world has had at least one bad day or one negative work experience. It's normal. It's human. Don't patronize teachers or OP about something you are clearly ignorant to.

SailorSolaris 43

#45, ever had any students with a learning disability? I've had teachers who haven't given a flying **** that learning some stuff is very hard for me, or who put me down for not being able to pay attention to a subject for more than half an hour. Those teachers sucked ass because they made it seem like I wasn't trying, when really I just learned differently. Can those teachers be called failures?

60, I've had many students with many different kinds of learning disabilities. I've helped many not only get into college, but stay in college by providing extra tutoring and proof reading. I'm sorry you were treated poorly. That is awful and no child deserves that from school. I know many students with learning disabilities don't get the help or support they need. I've had students with disabilities that I was not personally able to help. Getting an IEP or a 504 plan (if you're in the States, at least) and documenting teacher interactions/assignments/grades is really important because it establishes a legal obligation on the part of the school, district, teachers, and resource teachers. Becoming an advocate for your own education and fighting for it is really powerful. Unfortunately, teachers are human and make mistakes. The system is imperfect and flawed. I know a lot of teachers who work 15 hour days (sometimes six or seven days a week), go to work every day with a smile on their face, constantly looking for ways to engage and help students who don't want to learn. I also know teachers who don't give a shit and play movies everyday while their students run wild. Again, there are shitty people in every profession. It's unfortunate when you happen upon those people, but they do exist. You just have to know that there are good ones and try to find them.

How fortunate that you ended up with such an unusually mature group of high schoolers

What do you expect when the US tries to dumb down all of our students with the common core, like honestly 1+1=3 now Huh.... Sigh

No, no, it's 1 cat+3 dogs=6 turtles. Therefore, how many koalas live in all the state capitols? Answer: 5, because that's how many letters are in "state."

Shay_Shay97 23

Do you teach remedial or mentally disabled kids? If so, I can kind of cut the kids some slack. But if this is regular kids there is something very, very wrong.

or it could be stress from finals or something else

They don't have to be mentally disabled to do stupid things. The OP didn't specify what grade of high school they teach, so these kids could be anywhere between the ages of 14-18. They're teens, sometimes they're over the top, rambunctious, and do stupid stuff.

ZacIngmire 7

or 12-18 since US isn't the only country in the world

#36 The FML specifically say's United States.

#36, the way you worded that you make it sound like I'm a United States citizen and being ignorant and self absorbed with my own country. I have news for you though, I'm Canadian, not American, and I was actually being completely accurate with my age range. I actually saw that the FML was from the USA, so I put 14-18 for a reason because that's usually the system they have in the US, where high school is from grades 9-12. If I was being ignorant and not looking at the location (like you did), I probably would have put the ages for my own country, where high school is grades 10-12, generally ages 15-18. Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judgement without collecting all the information yourself. The fact that I'm Canadian is in my profile, and the location of the FML is right at the top of the page.

Goblin182 26

With horror stories like this, low pay and little gratitude from the students or parents I am surprised we still have teachers in this country.

I once had a student cut my hair. I taught Design Technology in a High School. Teenagers are a$$holes.