Teachers all over social media are sharing incredibly disheartening experiences at work, including children unable to engage with the material, inadequate funding, and parents unwilling to get involved. They’re overworked and underpaid, yet they provide a necessary service for our children. It’s a mess. One teacher in New Jersey shares the potential aftermath of so many teachers leaving the field. If it isn’t fixed now, then our children will suffer the most.
“What are you gonna do when they’re all gone?” Jessica Hawk of TikTok’s Myteacherface says in her video. A montage of teachers on social media flashes by, each one explaining their reasons and problems with today’s education system. It’s a trend of children unable to engage with material, teachers overworked, and parents either overworked or distant. And a vicious cycle, too.
It’s also clear no one party is to blame. For example, nearly half of married couples with families have both parents working. Both incomes are needed these days to cover the cost of living. That means fewer hours dedicated to child-rearing. And that’s just before you get to the minority of parents who are apathetic to education.
On the teacher’s side, salaries are low. A lot of passionate people become teachers, so it’s important that they be given a livable wage. Not to mention there’s been a sharp increase in teaching positions.
Jessica then shares that she’s been sent “DMs and emails” from teachers seeking advice, as well as those looking to break into education. Some asked for help with incidents involving faculty or with apathetic parents and children. “What should I do?” Jessica, point-blank says, “I don’t know.”
There’s a reason for this, according to Jessica. “All of the stopgaps in place to amend this behavior and this cycle are gone. And it’s being put on the teachers.” She then poses the question to the audience about what we’ll do when the teachers leave.
Many people in the comments placed the blame on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). “The no child left behind kids became parents,” said one commenter. Several others shared the same sentiment. It resulted in children who weren’t ready to be sent ahead anyway.
Other commenters placed the blame on bad parenting, with teachers becoming “underpaid babysitters” as one commenter stated. Many of the teachers in Jessica’s video montage even cited emotion regulation as a major part of their day.
If the problems of parents and teachers aren’t solved, Jessica has another question: “Do you want to homeschool?” Clearly, that idea doesn’t seem to sit right with her. “Do you want your kids to go to schools that don’t have certified teachers?” Instead, she argues we “encourage” the “best” of our students to go into education. That means we get the best educators for our children, and we rest easy knowing they’re being taught by the best.
It has to be worth it, and that means action. “You have to act on this or it will all be gone.” If teachers aren’t taken care of—salary, health care, proper education—then our children suffer the most.
