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AIBU?

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Original poster

Who would want to be a teacher now?

342 replies

Painauchocolats · 12/02/2023 08:13

I've just read an article (found on the DM) that a 53 year old teacher has taken her own life before she was due to appear in court for accidentally catching a pupil's hair. This was whilst she tried to confiscate the girl's mobile phone.

A male teacher (also in the DM) faces being struck off for shouting 'Who the hell do you think you are?" At some pupils who filmed tik toks during his lesson, and slammed his hand on the desk.

Sometimes teachers lose their temper, especially if this behaviour is incessant. Who can blame them? This is why pupils' behaviour is so poor these days, because there are no consequences, and because of things like this.

OP posts:
Remmy123 · 12/02/2023 08:16

You can't go round slamming kid's hands on their desk!!!

the other story, well there has to be more to it than that for it to go to court!

Original poster
Painauchocolats · 12/02/2023 08:16

He slammed his own hand, not the child's.

OP posts:
BlackFriday · 12/02/2023 08:16

Well yes. These are extreme cases you quote but we have sleepwalked into a massive and serious recruitment and retention crisis in the profession.
The warnings are out there but people are determined to ignore them.

CauliflowerRiceIsNotNice · 12/02/2023 08:20

There's a Facebook group called Life After Teaching - Exit the classroom and thrive. Some absolute horror stories on there about how teachers are treated, driving some to the point of feeling suicidal. There's a huge recruiting and retention issue in education and it's nlt hard to see why. So many dedicated kind experienced talented teachers leaving through choice or being forced out because they are at the higher end of the pay scale. It's very sad and also very worrying for our children.

Original poster
Painauchocolats · 12/02/2023 08:23

Yes I agree, I am a part of the group and some stories are terrible. So many UPS3 teachers conveniently needing a support plan.

OP posts:
WilliamsVexeVicks · 12/02/2023 08:43

Ah, tabloid 'news', well known for covering a story from all angles rather than sensationalist click bait.

We don't know what was going on with this teacher but there will be more than meets the eye. I wouldn't want to speculate but if the touching was purely accidental and didn't injure the child, the trial would have cleared the assault allegations. We don't know if the teacher lost her temper and was unduly aggressive in her handling of this pupil, if the she had form for this behaviour or not and if she apologised when she accidentally 'touched' the pupil's hair. We also don't know who this pupil is if there are other relevant issues such as race, SEN or other vulnerabilityies.

It is the responsibility of SLT to run a school with effective behaviour policies and the teacher and pupils were badly let down by the school (academy?). Obviously very sad situation for all. My thoughts are with her family and I also feel concerned about the pupil who will have had no say whether the teacher was prosecuted or not but she may now be left with a lifetime of guilt and trauma. The system is broken.

StormInaDcup99 · 12/02/2023 08:46

I agree OP...it's horrific, but ultimately a reflection of broken society we currently live in

OliverBabish · 12/02/2023 08:47

It takes a special type of person to be a teacher. These days so much is expected from them due to the other parts of our society (mental health, social care) being pushed to the brink.

RIP to that lady. Whatever happened wasn’t worth her life.

Floofyduffypuddy · 12/02/2023 08:50

Phones should be banned from the classroom fu. Stop.
It's insane they aren't already.

Poor teacher. I'm sure there was more too it because thresholds have to be reached to go to trial but still.

PineappleMel · 12/02/2023 08:51

Schools are full of broken kids these days and teachers seem to be expected to pick up the pieces and act as therapist and social worker as well as a teacher.

Bleese · 12/02/2023 08:53

I'm a teacher and think there will always be people who want to be primary teachers because they are drawn to working with small children. The pay and conditions don't matter so much when you're in your early 20s, especially if you live at home and don't worry about rent. It's 10 years down the line when all your peers are earning significantly more than you and you're trying to mark maths books during your toddlers' nap time on your day off that things begin to look less rosy.

Why anyone would ever want to teach secondary I just can't fathom. The behaviour management aspect would finish me off. I had to do a day's placement during my teacher training and within about 90 seconds of being in an unruly form class I wanted to escape.

chosenone · 12/02/2023 08:53

Nothing is worth her losing her life 😔

Dinosaurpoopy · 12/02/2023 08:54

Floofyduffypuddy · 12/02/2023 08:50

Phones should be banned from the classroom fu. Stop.
It's insane they aren't already.

Poor teacher. I'm sure there was more too it because thresholds have to be reached to go to trial but still.

They are already in my school, but what do you do when a student refuses to hand it over? Slt do nothing..

Christmascracker0 · 12/02/2023 08:55

I was considering retraining as a teacher but this is a worry for me.

If I ended up in a nice small rural school like the one I went to I would be fine, but I couldn’t deal with bigger schools and all their issues.

GuyFawkesDay · 12/02/2023 08:55

Well, I think those of us who teach have been on and on about this for years. The whole of the education sector is on its knees.

We have seen the crisis coming and it'll affect your children. Yes, even private school teachers are seeing that the ridiculous hours, lack of teaching pension and expectations aren't worth their salary.

I'm leaving at Easter. Behaviour is one of the factors involved. I'm never saying never to teaching in future but it'd have to be after some hefty changes to pay and conditions.

GuyFawkesDay · 12/02/2023 08:56

Oh, and I teach in a small rural secondary.

Drugs, violence and behaviour issues. All common.

Floofyduffypuddy · 12/02/2023 08:56

@Dinosaurpoopy

No. They need to properly banned to the extent that no pupil would dare bring it in.

In fact it shoud be paet of slt / ofsted role to count the phones held and pupils.
Slt need to enforce it.

GuyFawkesDay · 12/02/2023 08:58

And therein lies the problem.

I had a teen refuse to handover phone just this week. Parents were called. Parents defended the child.

Bleese · 12/02/2023 08:59

Christmascracker0 · 12/02/2023 08:55

I was considering retraining as a teacher but this is a worry for me.

If I ended up in a nice small rural school like the one I went to I would be fine, but I couldn’t deal with bigger schools and all their issues.

Presumably it's been 10 or 20 years since you left school - it's unlikely to be the same as when you were there. It's like when people mention there weren't TAs when they were in primary in the 80s or 90s (not that I have a TA now anyway). I can honestly say apart from maybe assembly, primary school today is nothing at all like the primary school I experienced.

MrsMurphyIWish · 12/02/2023 08:59

Phones are banned though in schools but some students don’t care.

I once covered a lesson and I walked in and a student was charging their phone. I asked them to take it out. They refused. I went to unplug it was told “don’t touch my fucking stuff”. We have no power.

Poor teacher. Funnily enough, when I was pushed down the stairs whilst pregnant with my second child, there was no punishment for the student. He was only removed when my husband rang my head and threatened to report to LEA.

I now teach at a different school thankfully.

Fairislefandango · 12/02/2023 09:00

@WilliamsVexeVicks - no, we don't know. But some students would be absolutely gleeful at the thought that they could make a vexatious complaint about a teacher over a minor, accidental incident and ruin their career or their life. I've seen it happen.

The reframing of a teacher raising their voice at a pupil as being 'aggressive behaviour' which traumatises students should not always be taken at face value either. And it's often said by people who have no clue about the level of behaviour teachers are dealing with. Yelling angrily at a little y7 who hasn't done his homework is obviously totally unacceptable. Raising your voice at a large y11 bully who has demonstrated time and again that they don't give a damn about any sanctions and are using offensive language, being openly defiant and disrupting everyone's learning for the millionth time... perhaps pointless, but certainly understandable and will not remotely traumatise the student. Behaviour policies aren't magic. They don't prevent disruptive pupils from being disruptive or stop teachers from having to deal with behaviour on the spot.

Weedoormatnomore · 12/02/2023 09:00

Feel for teachers these days. I have a DS 26 DS 15 and DD13 the stories I hear from DD13 and DD15 from school of others kids behaviour leave me shocked. Never heard have of that going on with DS26. It just seems to be getting worse too.

nbcsw · 12/02/2023 09:01

Floofyduffypuddy · 12/02/2023 08:56

@Dinosaurpoopy

No. They need to properly banned to the extent that no pupil would dare bring it in.

In fact it shoud be paet of slt / ofsted role to count the phones held and pupils.
Slt need to enforce it.

SLT need to do a lot of things, but they don't ...

Floofyduffypuddy · 12/02/2023 09:02

They would if it became law and part of ofsted.

Unfortunately ofsted would not see the phones because its hidden when they visit...

slowquickstep · 12/02/2023 09:02

Remmy123 · 12/02/2023 08:16

You can't go round slamming kid's hands on their desk!!!

the other story, well there has to be more to it than that for it to go to court!

Why can't you slam your hand on a rowdy obnoxious entitled brat of a pupils desk. Quiet frankly the brat involved should have had better parents.

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