To tell my son he should do something that earns more than teaching

[NameChangeAgainAgainAgainAgain]

My son is good at everything. Parent's evening yesterday and all the teachers said he could easily get 9s at almost all his GCSEs but he's a bit lazy as he finds things quite easy.

He plays 2 instruments to grade 6+ standard. He learns fast. He's great at sciences, maths, computing.

He wants to be a PE teacher.

AIBU to tell him to think about doing something else? He could literally do anything and has chosen this. I am a bit disappointed I suppose, thought he might go Barrister/Actuary/Doctor or something.

They’re saying now the retirement age for people his age is going to hit over 70. He’ll have near on 50 years working. That’s probably multiple careers, so I wouldn’t be too worried. I’d try to point him in the direction of medicine, or law first as it’s easier to switch into teaching at a later date

He can always switch careers if he decides it's not for him. Or have another side job. Definitely not up to you.

You spend more time at work than anywhere else.

Why wouldn't you prefer to do work that you actually enjoy?

YABVVVU.

My husband is a TA. Try moaning about a teacher's wage when you read how much they get paid.

Obviously don't deny all the things you say but the wage isn't bad.

Do you think he hasn’t thought of other options and just plucked this job out of thin air, and needs you to tell him to think of other jobs?🥴

At his age I’d have appreciated some guidance. I’d be in a much better career!

My Son also wants to be a teacher. We are proud of that. Teaching is an important career.

Ler him decide what he does. It isn’t up
to you.

COMPARED to your husbands wage a teachers wage “isn’t bad”.

But in general terms, a teacher’s wage is appalling for the work they do, the expectations and responsibilities placed upon them and the abuse they receive from students and parents.

You don’t need to take away from others to fight your own corner.

Money isn't be all and end all.
Mental health and happiness is.

Agree that his career ideas are going to be framed by what he knows and sees.

Does he even know what an actuary is? I wouldn't have done at 16, let alone wanting to be one.

Depends what you consider 'well'

Hmm, tell him to spend a week on Mumsnet. That will put him off being a teacher. Having said that, careers are not all just about money. The careers you suggest are all v tough in their own way.

It is one of my biggest achievements that my children did not follow me and become doctors. I would not wish that upon any young person these days. And remember it is not that uncommon to come out with largely 9s at GCSE. There is a huge leap between that and getting into medical schools. The A-level grades, the work experience, the extra admission exams and the rigorous interviews. It is a highly competitive course and all nines at GCSE does not mean much when it comes to acceptance at medical school.

If a child asked my advice, I would suggest doing a computer science degree. However, you do not get to decide for him, and the more you push the more he will resist. And if he is genuinely lazy, then he is not going to succeed at those competitive careers either.

My mother and a lot of my family are teachers. It's a horrible life now. My mum does so much work out of hours (that a TA wouldn't do, by the way.) Discourage if you can.

It's not a race to the bottom. TA wages are also very poor. Teachers wages in the UK are shockingly low - an NQT secondary school teacher in Berlin (a cheap city to live in) starts on £51k. In London it's £36k and a much higher cost of living, rent etc.

I would also add that if you are solely a PE teacher then you’re rather vulnerable if you injure yourself. A relative was a school sports coach for a while and he hurt his leg playing 5 aside football at the weekend, and couldn’t do his job properly for months. Of course it’s a risk in any job but one where you have to be personally quite active, and there’s a good chance you’re involved in plenty of social sport yourself as well - it’s a good idea to have other things you can do if health and physical strength are compromised for a while.

Teacher is fine, but PE teachers are the lowest paid and most precariously employed of nearly all teaching subjects. I would be directing him towards the other careers in that field, however tangential - sports medicine, sports physiotherapy etc.

But also, as others have said, it's early days yet. Keep him working across all his subjects, and make sure he picks a-levels that keep doors open for him. Worst case scenario, we live a very long time, and as a poster above said, you can always change your mind and retrain, especially if he is as bright and versatile as you say.

My son is in his 2nd year of teaching. I am very proud of him. And make sure I tell him that as well.
He is a primary school teacher in a deprived inner city school where 90 percent of the parents do not have English as a first language. He loves his job. He knows he will move on and up but he loves what he does.

@SherrieElmer harsh
@AddictedToTea I'm a secondary music teacher
@WalkingThroughTreacle No but teaching, in my experience, is rubbish

My DD is Yr 8 but I would actively discourage her to go into teaching, not that I think she would want to. She sees how the only quality time we have as a family are in the holidays (Xmas, Easter and summer - not the half terms as that is for catching up on work).

Unless you want to be SLT there is also a ceiling on salary so I went onto UPS3 at 30 and I’ll be UPS3 til I retire.

DH is a PE teacher and he has never solely taught PE - he’s given KS3 subjects too (luckily his BA was in English).

Unless teaching changes in the next decade, I would never advise any young person to be a teacher.

I don’t understand the problem. Teachers get paid ok, starting salary is £30 with opportunities for progression, get most of the school holidays off and get a good pension. there’s much worse careers he could have chosen!

I steered mine away from PE teacher as worried extremely limited opportunities it’s literally deadman’s shoes
wouldn’t have a problem with any other teaching roles

£30k + but I do live in a very cheap (read deprived) city

@rwalker yes same with music teaching, dead men's shoes

I was very academic. When I told my teachers that I was thinking about going into teaching, they all told me that I could do something so much "better" than that. They persuaded me to drop the idea, even though I think my parents would have supported me whatever I wanted to do.

Years later, I often regret that I didn't go down the teaching route. I do know how very tough education is right now, but I still feel that it would have really suited me. I have considered career changing on several occasions, but unfortunately, by the time I started to consider this, I didn't feel that I could afford the significant drop in income that I'd have had to accept in order to retrain - it wouldn't have been fair to my family. I will always have a little bit of regret, though - I have found various other ways of being involved in education and working with young people etc over the years, but I do feel as if I somehow missed my vocation.

My dd is planning to be a doctor. Honestly, having read the horror stories about junior doctors and working conditions, mental health etc, I am really concerned and wish that she would choose an easier path. However, I believe that she too has a vocation and that she has to follow her own sense of purpose and her own dreams. She knows that it's going to be hard but she wants to do it anyway... and who am I to tell her what to do with her life?

Your ds is still young and doesn't have to decide yet what he wants to do, but if he aspires to be a teacher, then the very best of luck to him. We need good people in teaching and we should be encouraging our kids to pursue their own ambitions...not living out ours. It's his life, not yours. Talk through the pros and cons of different options, by all means, but ultimately, respect that it's his decision.

If you’re a teacher OP, you’ll know the reality of teaching and if that hasn’t put him off, I don’t know what will.

I’m glad mine didn’t go down that route, but I wouldn’t have influenced them if it’s what they wanted. Ultimately, it’s his decision, but he’ll need to up his commitment to work if he teaches.