Teachers are Quitting Faster than Ever: Here's Why

School is NOT a Daycare!

Generation Alpha and late Generation Z students are out of control and teachers aren’t having it. There are hundreds of accounts from teachers about their behavioral issues such as physical aggression, blatant disrespect, inability to focus, and more.  

A teacher on TikTok by the username of, "@saaaaaaii1" states, "Having to teach and work with your guy's children has been the most traumatic experience of my life. They don't respect any authority. You ask them, "can you stand in your designated spot?" They're telling you, "no" and "shut up."

There have also been extreme instances of Gen Alpha students straight up hitting their teachers and some Gen Z students purposefully ruining classroom supplies. Subsequently, Gen Alpha and Gen Z student’s academic performance is at the lowest rate in decades. Social media sites are littered with videos of teachers talking about how middle schoolers and elementary students cannot read. 

It has been widely suspected that two reasons for this behavior are the overwhelming use of technology and the lack of discipline from millennial parents. Generation Alpha and Generation Z are the first generations not to experience a life without technology. 

Teaching the alpha generation has been harder than teaching previous generations due to short attention spans caused by factors like social media. Furthermore, because technology has been such a huge part of their lives from the start, it’s easy to neglect homework and use shortcuts for technology to accomplish work, rather than attempting to learn the material. 

A TikTok teacher, by the username of, "@Zeekathen" who teaches eighth graders shares her experience of teaching basic spelling to her students who did not know how to spell or pronounce the simple word, "between."

Another example is when a substitute teacher was instructed to give basic spelling & grammar busy work during that day. He recalls that his first thought was, “Oh, this will be easy, and they’ll fly right through this work.” He later states that he was very wrong. He was teaching a seventh grade class and described that their penmanship and basic spelling were at a second grade level.

What’s even worse is that when teachers confront the parents about the student’s lack of academic progress, and behavioral issues, they are often berated and blamed for the child’s behavior instead. School is not a daycare. The teachers should not have to parent the students. In fact, in many American schools today, there is no real disciplinary support if a student is out of line, and they will often get away with nothing but a slap on the wrist.  

Another aspect to consider is the “gentle parenting” style that is very popular amongst millennial parents. This is a style of parenting that does not focus on punishment and rewards but rather on talking out the issue with the child. Millennials admit that the reason for gentle parenting being adopted into practice is due to the strict parenting that they had to deal with as children from the older generations. 

However, discipline is necessary for maturity, and while “talking it out” can be beneficial at times, it is not always the best way to handle a situation. Especially since young children do not always understand and listen to reason. Teachers are losing their minds and individuals who have been teaching for 10+ years are suddenly quitting. Some new teachers give up within the first few weeks of just starting.  

Overall, these situations are completely unacceptable and should be treated as such. Teachers spend hours a day grading and putting together teaching plans and then spend hours more teaching students who won’t even listen to or respect them. If you are a student reading this, please understand that you will not succeed in life if you do not take education seriously.

Attempt to acknowledge how hard your teachers work for all of you because it’s easy to forget that sometimes. If you are a teacher reading this, we want you to know that you are not alone, and our team will continue to spread awareness and support you. Your hard work and dedication are not unnoticed by us, and we will do everything in our power to make a difference in education for the better.