Who would want to be a teacher now?

[Painauchocolats]

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.

I’m a secondary teacher. On it’s good days I still think it’s one of the best, most rewarding jobs.

last week was so bad (10 emails from a parent because I gave their child a detention, as per school policy, for not doing their homework telling me why I was wrong for doing so was one incident, but not the worst one) I spent Friday night looking for jobs outside of education.

Yep I have been teaching 20 years and it's much worse than when I started

SLT have their hands tied on exclusions etc and often don't want to deal with aggressive/useless parents and some kids have umpteen millions reason why they can't behave. So those kids get away with it, and then the rest follow.

We have awful issues with things ranging from vaping in loos to county lines drugs problems.

It is relentless. And exhausting. And teachers are voting with their feet because one slip and you are this poor, poor woman.

However SLT can't pass the buck to teachers.

It should be their intivative and their project to come around and make sure they are all in.

I've seen when it's done in a firm non negotiable way and pupils get used to it very quickly. What they struggle with is this wishy washy half way house.

It’s been 12 years since I left secondary and yes it has changed a lot since then! But I have a few teacher friends who have worked at my old school/nearby schools and say it’s so much nicer compared to other places.

I’m from the Highlands which may make a difference.

Bloody phone meant leaves me shocked. Never heard half the stories of such bad behaviour 10yrs ago.

Many have swallowed the Paul Dix "restorative" approach whole.

Last week a colleague was made to have a restorative with a teen who has threatened to get their dad in to beat her up and get her sacked. All the teacher did was follow the school policy, and got a barrage of abuse and is now being goaded and tormented by this girl and her friends.

And she's expected to sit in a meeting with her as if she is half to blame for the situation.

Not me! (I’m a teacher.)

I’ve been in the job 12 years and loved it but it’s not recognisable as the same job any more. A few incidents over the past 2 years have made me question why I’m still doing it and so I am currently working on an exit strategy (as are countless of my teacher friends).

I cant imagine anything worse than being a teacher. The kids get away with murder.

Depends what the teacher is accused of by the child and the 'witnesses' doesn't it?
Teacher in our area years ago got suspended on the word of a pupil and their witness until eventually it was proven the 'witness' had been in detention elsewhere at the time. Teacher still never came back as there was still the 'no smoke without fire' shit amongst the arsehole type parents, so can imagine the stress of this teacher thinking no matter the outcome she'd never work again and the stigma that would follow her.

I love teaching. But I am a member of the Facebook group mentioned by a PP and am looking, semi-seriously, for a way out. I know I am not on my own amongst colleagues. I work at a great school that does not have the issues that some schools do (I have worked supply extensively and know the lie of the land in a lot of local schools) but there is only so much a person can take before they crack.

Couldnt agree more, it’s a grim. Hats off to teachers who turn up and try day in day out I couldn’t do it.

Your wrong for thinking it’s new though, 15yrs ago one the better teachers I’ve met snapped and headbutted a pupil then chased him off the school premises swinging at him with his rucksack.
I saw that bit or I wouldn’t have believed the rumours!
I didn’t see what happened before but I know that pupil had form for pushing and pushing until teachers broke.
He was considered to be the strictest teacher and all the other teachers who couldn’t cope would send to him for discipline. This kid was in my year and I had seen him bully 2 teachers out of school already. One for being gay and the other for being a try hard graduate who cared.
I won’t say he deserved it because he was a troubled kid who deserved better that he was getting in life but he definitely brought it on himself. This was end of secondary so the kid was the same height and bigger built than him, probably could have laid him out if he tried but coming for a violent home I think he knew when he’d pushed too far.

The teens is really when a poor home life and lack of future opportunities to work toward start fermenting into something dangerous.
That school was always more crowd control than education. Even at 14 I could see that.

Sadly this is also common for doctors who have cases raised against them, many of which upon investigation turn out to be untrue but the stress of it unfortunately leads to some taking their own lives.

Its not a competition but the reality is lots of jobs are absolutely crap now, even jobs that were once desirable. Can't comment on the private sector so not saying i think its all roses there by talking about the public sector, I highly suspect with the rise in zero hour contracts, erosion of terms and conditions like

sick pay, cost cutting during financial strife it's also savage.

Just want to say thank you to all you teachers ❤. I really hope it gets better for you.

Short answer is Nobody.

I am a teacher in a nice school. Not one of my pupils wants to become a teacher. I imagine the workload/stress/hours just doesn’t seem worth it for the salary.
They see what their teachers go through.
Getting in to 4 years of student debt isn’t compensated by a teacher’s wage or lifestyle.

Kids know they hold the power over teachers. It's the wrong way round.

I think all teachers know that they are just one unfounded allegation away from being this poor woman.

I've been teaching secondary for nearly 20 years, and it is an unrecognisable job. Not only is behaviour s

How? How can I enforce it?

I am already in school from 7.30am. I am on the yard with a year group every morning, making sure they have pen, pencil and planner as well as uniform on and no issues preventing them going to lessons. Do I collect phones as well? When they say no, fuck off, I can't exclude as OfSTED will complain. Parents will back them up and give a million reasons why the phone is needed.

I am a teacher, manager, counsellor, social worker, mentor, administrator....I can't be the police as well.

According to another thread running at the moment about the “ineffectual” head who didn’t break up the Surrey fight quickly enough, we should be the police.

I'm sure TV programmes like Waterloo Road give bad behaviour expectations. Certainly not like that in schools round here (affluent south east)

Sorry, posted too soon! But yes, I completely understand why many teachers may be feeling overwhelmed for so many reasons.

For years the narrative on Mumsnet has been to say to any teacher that complains about conditions of work "well if you don't like it then stop teaching and get a real job." Well, guess what, teachers are now doing exactly that and there is a retention and recruitment crisis. This is not going to get any better in the next ten years.
I'm now waiting for all of the many complaining posts which will spring up at the time of the next NEU strike in a couple of weeks time.

There really doesn't have to be more. I worked in FE for a few years and holy mother of God the shit that went down there. No support for the teaching staff, burnout and break downs everywhere, I saw staff attacked, personal belongings stolen, kids acting like crap and NO back up from higher up if you did discipline them. Yet lots of staff still so committed.

I remember once that if we touched a kid - as in, hand on the shoulder to calm them - you could expose yourself to getting done for assault!! I left for my own safety in the end. Sure there are better schools and areas but this is a common theme and if you have never been in a classroom you have no fecking idea what it's like and what a talent it is to reach really well.

Totally agree with the OP teaching is a very hard place to be.

To be fair in my last school the police used to ring us up as we usually knew the crack before they did.

I have two teen girls and I just wanted to say here that their teachers (state secondary) are fantastic. My kids often mention funny stories or something interesting they learned. I go in to school and see smiling teachers whose kids respect them. I have no doubt there are bad days. I just wanted to say that I am enormously grateful to those inspiring clever people in my kids lives.

Where is the union? Or Affinity? I work in HE not school but if I was expected to engage in something like this I would expect support from union/Affinity.