I know it's been done to death but I don't think people realise how hard it is to work in a school!

i dont think lockdown can be blamed - it absolutely sounds like poor parenting, poor home life, vicious circle

my own dd is a ina/ta of only a few months
she doesnt want to become a teacher and only stays for the one child in year 6 - i will have to ask her if the children swear at her. as she looks after one child only i think she would have told me

Poor parenting, weak society, no consequences, no boundaries or discipline at home or in school.

These are all bad things that contribute but that's been happening for a while. This sounds like a lockdown issue. It's wrecked kids development, combined with the above.

But she didn't say it was 'harder' just that some people don't realise how hard it is. She wasnt making a comparison.

And it's true. A lot of people don't realise.

It's so bad that a lot of people think you're exaggerating or just making it up. I wish that were true.

I met a teacher, still young, who had left recently and become a dog walker
that sounds like a fantastic option, something I might consider as well

In my first year of teaching (nearly 20 years ago), there was a boy in my year 1 class who would frequently tell members of staff (and occasionally their friends parents') to "fuck off".

They don't really understand what they're saying at that age but they know it's bad, they've heard it said at home when one parent has annoyed another, they repeat it at school.

It was a rare occurrence in those days, though, I'll admit.

In the past 20 years, I've seen things get a lot worse.

Or they just have issues with concentration and low attention span because parents just chuck a screen at them to watch all day.

The OPs post is about people “not realising how hard it is to work in a school” so it is entirely relevant to point out that it isn’t “harder” than many many jobs outside of school, isn’t it? At no point have I tried to suggest OP isn’t “entitled” to say anything.

Why would you think that? Not my experience

Where on earth did the OP say that teachers work harder than everyone else? She's not even a teacher. She's a TA who has been abused in her job and is entitled to start a thread about it FFS.

Most people need time to decompress after work. Many people have challenging roles, I know I would find being called a bitch by a 6 year old (or even a 16 year old) unpleasant but it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to think that other roles might have awful days. You might be a therapist listening to the pain of abuse, a dr delivering bad news, someone dealing with neglected animals, a farmer watching their crop rot, a bus driver receiving the frustration of commuters, we all have bad days and hard moments. I think teaching is an admirable profession but the idea that teachers work harder than everyone else and are unappreciated is unhelpful and inaccurate.

I have taught for 30 years, and the abuse that teachers and support staff receive nowadays is absolutely dreadful. Off the scale. It is a daily expectation that staff will be sworn at, spat at and hit. With no one to back them up. Don't get me started on the awful misogyny from young boys and men. Schools are haemorraging staff. Something has gone terribly wrong in the UK education system, and sadly I can only see things getting worse.

I'm a TA in Y1, so 5 and 6 year olds. Just this week, I've been pinched, bitten, spat at, and called a "fat, ugly, useless cunt".

A y1 child did this?? I am speechless. I must live in a bubble. I have never seen or heard of my kids’ peers behaving like this in their teen years, never mind at age five. WTH. I am sorry that happened to you. What kinds of homes do these kids come from 😔

I am in Europe and also don't have this problem. The students and their families are very respectful towards staff. Of course there are always some parents who are more 'involved' than others, and require a little managing, but generally it's a calm profession in this sense. Respect for others and being able to contribute to our community is a part of our curriculum.

however, my Dsis works at a school in the north and tales that she has to tell are sometimes unbelievable and eye opening. It makes me
never want to return to the UK, in all honesty.

6 year olds calling you a bitch? Yeah right...

I'm in Toronto and I know quite a few teachers and they have never been physically attacked or spat at!

They've been sworn at on occasion by teenagers, but that's rare.

Why are kids so out of control over there? This is horrifying to read!

I have been teaching in lreland for 40 years..reaching retirement now and l have never once..not once..had a child swear at me, sput/ bite etc. We did hear about that in very deprived inner city areas but outside of that..never. I taught in a few different schools..large city..small rural over the years but never had it happen. Its very rare here to have an assistant as its only allowed if a child with very specific needs is in your class. So the job is demanding with large numbers at times.
My ds has told me in Secondary some kids did swear but it would be a huge rumus when they did and definitely not the norm. Sounds like UK schools have really got it tough.
Maybe some lrish teachers will be on to say my experience is not the norm but a lot of my friends are also teachers and they report no violence.
One thing l will say is: never be a teacher or a TA because the day is short/ family friendly etc..that is totally the wrong reason to pick that job .

Why on earth are children swearing at teachers?! I would not expect primary school children to do that.

I have a relative who is a TA. They tried taking a regular more corporate job, tried a couple of them and didn’t work out and went back to schools. I remember them telling me (I work full time, very corporate role) in a tone of horror how they only got 4 weeks holiday a year and that’s totally incompatible with being a parent and how did ANYONE do that?! Me: I guess there’s some juggling involved.

like what did they think I would say?? So teaching/teaching support is hard but not everyone finds it the hardest!! (There would not be little kids swearing at school though)

If you don’t mind, can you please explain how the OP has misrepresented teaching?

I loved teaching to begin with, I was a class teacher then a PT, DHT and eventually HT. I honestly thought I could make a difference in children’s lives. For me to teach was my dream, it always had been. I got to DHT, still taught part of the week, I had the best of both worlds then eventually I got my Headship. I was going to change the world. I had an amazing staff team who were SO dedicated to educating and nurturing children, each and every one of the colleagues I worked with throughout the years were mostly amazing people. The lack of support from the authority was always an issue, the lack of support for parents who had children with SEN was awful, you can try your best as an HT but without funding some parents are left no option but to send their children into mainstream school without the relevant support. Most days I spent my time trying to support my teachers by taking the children who had been so badly failed by LA’s refusing 1:1 support. There’s only so much you can do. I see so many threads on here encouraging parents with SEN children to “shout” “advocate” etc and I totally understand why that advice is given. At the end of the day it isn’t the schools fault, most of us try/tried our best.

Then you have the parents who simply don’t give a shit. They allow their children to sit on computer games every night or it could often be YouTube. I lost count of the children at 8 years of age that were uploading TikTok videos. I realised in the end it doesn’t matter if you pour your heart and soul into educating other peoples children for some parents it will never be good enough.

I live a much happier life now but my heart will always go out to teachers and support staff on here who continue to go in day after day, term after term who really care about the children they support.

School trips are always a bone of contention. You will always get the parents who claim they don’t have the money to pay for them. I’m sorry to say this but some parents do play the “I have no money” card but surprisingly they always manage to have their nails and hair extensions done. They’re the talk of the staffroom. Whether that is professional or not it does happen. Teachers and support staff are only human.

YABU OP and worse, misrepresent teaching, leaving it open for the bashers to swoop in.

You generalise. In reality, it's some people don't realise how hard it is to work in a school.

Are these kids talking to their parents this way?

I would back any punishment my child got for speaking like this!!

Neurodiversity is not an excuse. I'm autistic adam and never acted that way. My dd is undiagnosed but would never act that way. My son who is diagnosed and has significant challenges including violent and challenging behaviour so bad he's not safe in school would never speak to someone that way!! He can have violent meltdowns if he's not supported when he starts to struggle, he will destroy his work and he constantly climbs dangerously and escapes school grounds. But he does it because he is struggling not because he's a little sh1t. We have a home tutor now and I can't remember what he did but he said "it's not my fault I'm autistic" and I came down on him hard for that! It may be the reason he are but it is absolutely not an excuse not to try. His disability social worker was off sick so a cover one did the visit and he told her "go away I hate you" that was said because he struggles with someone new but again I pulled him up on it he can say he's feeling uncomfortable without personal attacks and I won't tolerate it. But I've found both tutor and SW say oh don't worry it's not his fault. That's the message he gets from so many people that autism means he can act poorly amd get away with it. It REALLY gets my back up. And I fully agree many parents of SEN kids are too permissive and many kids in the SEN groups do seem to just be poorly behaved not SEN. HOWEVER it's more common for education staff to dismiss the real Sen and cause families years of difficulty because they won't make referrals- likely because the kid has SEN the parenting has become too permissive but the parent blame is too much and unacceptable.

But yeah I went off on one there I honestly want to know do these kids parents allow this behaviour/language at home?

Fuck. That. Get out of there.