Aibu to think most people have no idea what it's like being a secondary teacher.

[Tiredteacherlass]

I believe that most people have no idea how bad behaviour is and how most schools have feral children and no real means of control.

I'm fed up. the shouting, the filthy language, the name calling, the drugs, the absolute lack of slt support.

I am lucky to teach in a one form entry Primary where bad behaviour is rare. I have heard horror stories from friends who teach in Primaries where many of the kids seem to be feral. I have the utmost respect for Secondary school teachers. It's a job I wouldn't even contemplate (ditto the Police and Prison Service) as you have to put up with so much shit on a daily basis.

Shitgovernment- that sums it up perfectly!

I was at DD's swimming lesson the other day and was watching a couple of 6 year old boys having a lesson. Their mothers smiled and giggled indulgently as the boys were being asked repeatedly by the teacher to follow instructions, stop messing about and listen etc.

It made me think of this thread, the total lack of respect for a professional trying to educate their children, and the idea that kids who misbehave are somehow 'characters'.

You’ve caught me on a bad day, because today I had a 6ft 2 year 11 boy start on me, and call me a slag because I asked him to put his phone away.

I haven't read the whole thread but if this sort of thing happens what are the consequences? At DSs school that would lead to an exclusion. Reading the first part of this thread it seem like the children just get away with it?

It's a thankless task at times that's for sure! Especially when any kind of behaviour management is often met with resistance from parents !
However (and I'm sure I will get flamed here) as part of my role in working with children with SEN I often have to undertake observations in both primary and secondary settings. And whilst I know that younger children may often be seen as being easier to teach I am always impressed at the effort and creativity that goes into the planning and delivering of lessons. Fast forward to secondary and it seems to be the norm (only in what I have seen, and I know its not everywhere) to deliver either chalk and talk lessons or dry worksheets. I often find my concentration drifting as an adult. My point being that yes teaching disaffected kids is hard but sometimes I wonder if the lack of creativity in the lessons has a direct impact on behaviour.

I am horrified by some of the stories my DD tells me happen at school. Kids walking out after shouting obscenities at teachers and coming back with dad who has to be escorted from the school by police was one example. The child is still in school.
The school recently had a very poor Ofsted report, which wasn't surprising, but due to DD going into year 10 and the location and distances involved, changing wasn't really an option.
I have supported the school when things have arisen regarding her behaviour and to be honest I sometimes get a defensive attitude from the teacher right off the bat, and they seem very surprised that I actually agree with them and will support punishment and extend it at home.
That said, the new head appears to be making the 'good' kids resentful now because they are basically ignoring the disruptive ones, not even bothering to hand out punishment they know will be ignored but cracking right down on historically 'good' kids with harsh punishment for minor things. I don't blame the teaching team for this but rather a system that pushes for results at the expense of everything else. Probably 25% of DDs year are regularly disruptive, and as they ignore any punishment dished out anyway, the teachers are focussing on those that do listen and do alter their behaviour when out of line. This makes my DD resentful and she's actually learning the opposite of what she should be - behave like an arsehole and you get away with it. Behave better and have a minor slip and you get the harsh punishment.
For example, kids turn up with all manner of uniform infringement, yet a friend of hers was put in 'inclusion' (stupid pc name for isolation!) For 2 days when her uniform was stuck in a broken washer. The school's line was 'zero tolerance' - but it seems that only applies if you actually heed the punishment. If you walk out and bugger off home or just sit there and refuse there's very little teachers are allowed to do about it - and that's what teenagers are learning, and that's scary.
Over the past 20 years or so kids have learned that they now have the power, and as teens they of course abuse it, some parents also had this and are bringing children of their own up in the same mould and so the cycle continues.
We need to have harsh, real, fair and across the board punishments and they need to be backed up by the government, there need to be real concequences to behaviour, that actually impact on the person they're being directed at. Removing something (education) from a child who doesn't want it, and who's parents don't care either way is pointless.

It impacts on kids like my DD because she and I care about her education, she knows to have a decent shot at life she needs her education. She does have times where she's out of line, of course she does, but she (and I) heed the punishment because ultimately we both want her to do well.

I don't know what the answer is to be honest, but I wouldn't be a teacher, I know a few and the joy they used to have for their job has been knocked out of them, many are defensive and jaded and it shows, not that I blame them for that at all - the demands must be overwhelming.
Something needs to change before we have no teachers left and then even the 'good' kids will seriously struggle to get an education which will totally screw society even more.
Sad state of affairs really.