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The world is constantly changing, and with it, so are people. However, since the process is gradual, it's difficult to see the results unless you zoom out and look at a broader period.
So Reddit user Vinnymacaroni made a post on the platform, asking teachers to share all the differences they notice in today's children compared to when they started working.
"I've been curious about teaching myself and recently had a thought," the Redditor explained. "I'm just curious to hear from a teacher's perspective because who would know kids better [...], right?"
And they delivered—the thread has hundreds of answers, with educators sharing their personal thoughts on the matter. Here are the most upvoted ones.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
28 years of experience... It's genuine kindness. Kids are so much more kind now than they were when I started in the 90s. They are so accepting of kids of different races, gender identities, intellectual differences like autism. "Accepting" isn't even a strong enough word. Kids that would be in such different social circles due to peer pressure in the 90s are friends now. I'm a straight white guy that was in high school in the 80s. I wish I was brave enough then to be as kind as kids are now.
I have plenty of complaints about phone addiction or the inability to multiply 5x4 without a calculator, but this is the most kind generation of students I've ever taught.
#2
As an English (as a foreign language) teacher, heres a positive one: the internet/phones/tablets have made English accessible for EVERYONE.
Even in countries like Egypt where the parents speak no English at all I'm noticing their kids having a great base level just from playing on their phones. Its pretty cool! Even young kids know quite a bit now
#3
Entitlement.
And not just in regards to phones. It’s everything.
#4
A huge difference I’ve noticed is it is becoming disturbingly common for parents to explicitly tell their kids that they don’t have to follow school rules.
Need to pee in the middle of class? Just get up and go, I’m your mom and I say it’s okay.
Don’t want to put your phone in your locker? Just keep it on you. I pay for it, not the school, and I say you can have it on you.
Don’t like your assigned seat? Just get up and move. It’s not that serious, your teacher is just on a power trip.
Students are always so smug about it when they say that their mom gave them permission, and then equally enraged when they still receive the related consequence because mom doesn’t make the rules at school. And then the mom gets pissed and we have to tell her to find another school if she doesn’t like our rules… it’s insanity. Absolutely could never have been me when I was a student, and this was not a thing when I first started teaching. But this kind of attitude has grown increasingly more common every year.
Luke Branwen 3 months ago (edited)
On the other hand, NOBODY should ever have to ask the question "Can I go to the toilet?" Student, employee, no one. It's a basic human need and nobody should have a right to answer "no" to that question. "Get up and go" is the correct procedure here.
#5
I think they’re nicer and have more social awareness overall, but they’re still kids. The behaviors have gotten more extreme. 12 years ago I had a very small handful of students in residential treatment. Now it’s common to have multiple. These behaviors aren’t little things I can address in class but take a crisis team and police frequently to restrain students because they’re a danger to themselves or others.
Unfortunately, residential treatment most of the time is better than their regular life (warm, safe, clean, adults care for you, etc) that they sometimes take issues to get back there.
They don’t drink and drive nearly as much, less d***s, vaping still less common than smoking when I was in school. Overall I think they’re really good people who are just struggling with the reality of the world right now and overwhelmed with information before their mind is able to process it in a healthy way and cope.
#6
I’ve been teaching since 1992. Attention spans have decreased. Dependency on spell check. Terrible handwriting. No accountability or behavioral consequences.
MadderPacker 3 months ago
I'm an Aerospace Engineer with TERRIBLE handwriting, chicken-scratch heiroglyph level terrible and one of my professors gave me a lot of s**t about it. Now that I'm working in the field, guess who hasn't used handwriting in a decade or so. People, especially educators really need to adapt to the times and learn to stop teaching only what they have been taught themselves.
#7
I thought about this today. I’ve taught high school for a decade, prior to that I was a long-term substitute teacher on and off for five years. Parents paid more attention to their kids 15 years ago. Now, they believe everything that comes out of their precious little mouths. For instance, I had to call a parent because little Johnny had 10 missing assignments. I told her and explained that he needed to make a 70 to pass and probably wouldn’t with that amount of missing activities. She said that it would be taken care of. Then the next day emailed me to say that Little Johnny told her he submitted everything and I refused to grade them. Like why would I refuse to grade a kids assignments? I’m 47.
Traveling Lady Railfan 3 months ago
I guess there have always been parents who have been lied to by their children, and the parents don't realize they're being lied to... Do you think this is more common because people are being fed more misinformation over social media over the past 25 years to the point that official sources of information aren't trusted anymore and they believe whatever source they prefer to believe? I'm thinking about all of the misinformation about politics, medical advice, etc. If you don't believe that vaccinations can save lives and you are willing to believe force-fed political rhetoric that is just scare tactics and hate mongering, then why shouldn't you believe your kid when he says "the teacher hates me and I've handed all my assignments in." If you're used to fake news, why question authority?
#8
Biggest change I see since I began in 2010 is admin not being supportive of teachers. When I began, if a kid mouthed off to me, the admin would issue punishment up to suspension. Now, I am the one punished because their attitude is all my fault.
fly on the wall 3 months ago
You really struck a cord with this submission. I did the whole teacher training thing. I was doing my final practicum when I had a student throw a pair of scissors at me. I admit I "over reacted " when I yelled at him. His punishment for throwing the scissors- he had to spend the rest of the afternoon at a desk in the office. My support- I was told my practicum would be terminated if I yelled at a student in the future. I finished my practicum but decided there was no way I could survive in that sort of a work environment and went back to my original trade.
#9
Past: Class of 20, 1 or 2 difficult kids, maybe 3 annoying kids, and 15 really good hard working kids that want to learn. Most parents supportive.
Present: class of 20: 5-7 behavior problems, one of those a major problem, 7 -8 unmotivated and uninterested kids. 5-7 hard working kids that want to learn. Most parents not involved.
Luke Branwen 3 months ago
Because parents are too exhausted and burned out from their gruelling job(s) to spend any extra energy caring about their children's situation at school. El problema es el capitalismo, y'know the drill.
#10
Nothing keeps their attention anymore and nothing motivates them. I get them gift bags with a few goodies and I get multiple kids saying, "That's it?" It's not all of them but the apathy is found in the majority now.
#11
No one enjoys reading anymore. Reading for fun feels nonexistent right now. I have a lot of readers below grade level as well. I’m cleaning out my classroom library right now and I feel so sad that it’s been neglected all year.
Guy Bare 3 months ago
France here. If parents don't give their children the taste of reading, school won't be either. Let me explain : the books they "force" you to read, at school, are so boring and non-interesting for kids ! Like no thank you, not interested in your 500 pages of boredom from the 18th century. Let kids read Harry Potter or any modern litterature ! I was and I am always a great reader. But school readings were so hard for me. Only boring stuff... thinking about Robison Crusoe here...didn't read 100 pages!
#12
Phone addiction. Their parents, too.
#13
Kids just seem dumber overall. Could be the area I teach in, but basic math and literacy skills have constantly trended downward here. We keep lowering the bar for interventions because we don't have enough spots if half the school needs math and reading support.
Not sure why, but they are definitely dumber on average in my area. I still always get a handful of really bright kids which is nice.
iseefractals 3 months ago (edited)
Yeah....a combination of "no child left behind" and the fact that funding is tied to test scores, so there's a financial motivation to keep pushing the dullards along rather than remedy the problem. Parents aren't present enough to know what's going on in their kids life, and in the rare instances they're informed, they act as if the solution is to browbeat the teacher or the school into pretending it's totally normal for a high school student to read at 4th grade level. 54% of the U.S reads at, or BELOW a 6th grade level, the other 21% is illiterate.
#14
Year 22 starts in July. I don't know if I can put it in words, but there's an air that little children have--it's a combination of silliness, joy, fearlessness, creativity, curiosity, imagination, and sweetness. Occasionally some naughtiness creeps in but it's all very innocent.
They want to climb the tree on the playground all by themselves and they want to know why that chrysalis didn't ever open. They jump up to do the silly dance and hold a friend's hand when they're nervous during a fire drill. They're excited when you hand them a new book or toy or a piece of candy. They want to show you their new backpack and when you give them free choice time, they know exactly what to build or draw.
I've taught K-1 most of my career and while many little kids still have all of these qualities, it's astonishing how many kids don't. You hand them a piece of paper and they say "I don't know what to draw" or "I don't like to color". You encourage a little tree climbing at recess and they say "No, I could fall". You put on a silly dancing song and they not only refuse to stand up, they sit there whining "This is BORING". The water during Science turns blue and they say "Whatever."
I think they're growing up too fast. They're physically risk-adverse but they'll talk to strangers on Snapchat. They're afraid of looking silly or getting dirty or drawing attention to themselves by asking a question. They'd rather be on their phones more than anything in the whole wide world, but since they're at school, a Chromebook will do. If they're asked to do something challenging or "boring" they'll run to the counselor to complain about their big feelings so they can get access to a screen to "calm down".
My kids are 5-8, generally, and they've just...lost a huge developmentally appropriate part of their childhoods. It's going to have long-lasting societal repercussions.
Andrew Keir 3 months ago
I'm concerned that kids have no (or little) chance to just play. Calvinball is an educational experience :-)
#15
level of curiosity . . . almost non-existent today. When I started in the 90s, there were always a handful of students in every class that wanted to know "why?", but in recent years, it's either "just tell me the answer" (If they haven't already Googled it) or "who cares? Just mark it wrong".
She speaks poniards 3 months ago
But don't they look it up ("googling it") because they're curious? May not be the best info, but just means they also need to be taught information literacy ~
#16
I’ve moved schools so I’m gonna have a rare opinion; they got much better in every area possible. Smarter, kinder, more respectful, self aware, less entitled.
The difference between Philly and the suburbs.
#17
The reliance on an adult to solve any problem. Not being accountable to themselves.
#18
I've been in early childhood for 10 years now, was a sub for about 5 years before that. What I've noticed since covid is a profound lack of social skills.
Not just a lack of curiosity or emotional disregulation, which I've seen in spades, but an inability to play or talk or cooperate with other kids. Each kid is their own little island and they have zero interest in visiting other islands.
I've literally had to teach five year olds how to play basic "toss the ball" games or "work together to build a wall of blocks" whereas before, they would be coming up with wacky calvin-ball type games on their own and pulling everyone under 4 feet tall into the game with barely any effort. Now, I might as well be trying to teach them physics in Klingon.
#19
Screen addiction. To their phones. And when you take their phones away, it’s the school issued device screen. When you tell them to put those away they either sleep or get indignant - like how dare you tell them to do school while in school.
AI dependence. Because they can’t kick their screen addiction, they have terrible reading skills but also even worse writing skills. So they’ll turn to plagiarism and/or use AI. They also can’t spell or know when to capitalize things because every don’t read. This is high school.
Apathy. They just don’t care and/or see the value of education. Why bother because they’ll just become social media influencers or YouTubers. And with credit recovery, why bother passing the class while they’re sitting in it because they won’t write the paper. Despite the fact the teacher had a week of instruction of how to write the paper and class time to work on it and then another week to finish the paper. And daily reminders after that to turn it in. But they fail anyway because they didn’t turn it in, take the class in credit recovery where they never have to write a paper. Meanwhile, they waste their time staring at their phone during class.
Trista JW 2 months ago (edited)
If AI is the problem, the solution is simple: fail the bastards. AI is unacceptable and letting them pass is even worse. If they face sh1t at home for failing their damn classes, they will have to pull their heads out of their asses and do their work. And DRILL IT into their STUPID asses that being an "influencer" or "streamer" is NOT a job at all. Slap them in the faces with a cold, hard dose of reality, just like I was when I was in highschool many years ago. The b******t HAS to stop.
#20
It is all about the phone addiction and the ability to get anything they want on demand.
Like I can't show movies or videos anymore because it is all boring to them. It is boring because they have Netflix on their phone and they can watch whatever they want at any time. It isn't special to watch a movie.
Or kids have major trouble listening. I can give whole class instructions, but they don't listen. They have earbuds in or think it doesn't apply to them because there isn't an algorithmically generated content pop up for them.
Huddo's sister 3 months ago
I tear my hair out every day because kids don't listen! Like, no recognition I've said anything at all most of the time, when they do, often they yell/talk back to me. I've tried talking quietly and calmly, giving them plenty of warnings, warned that I was take toys off them etc, all the things you are supposed to try with neurodiverse children, and I get nothing.
#21
Been teaching middle school for 12 years. Kids are now testing lower then ever. I’d say, I have around 10 - 15 middle schoolers that are testing at a 1st - 3rd grade level. Student also lack the ability to be resourceful and persevere. They give up the moment something gets too difficult. They can’t write and can barely hold a conversation. The parents are also getting lazier and dumber. I really feel like a lot of my parents should have had their tubes tied so they’d never have kids.
keyboardtek 2 months ago
My neighbor's son is 15. He came over to see what I was building in my garage. I tried to tech him how to use a hand saw. Measure a length of 10 inches and draw a line across the wood with a t-square. He had no clue how to read a ruler. No clue that there are 12 inches to a foot or three feet to a yard. This in 10th grade!
#22
I am a newer teacher but just the past couple years have shown me that parents DESPERATELY need better rules/boundaries when it comes to tech. Elementary schoolers don’t need brand new iPhones or to be playing video games for hours unsupervised.
We have our own kiddo and I absolutely will not be giving her access to a smart phone until high school.
Montanavanna 2 months ago
If you don't think a device is crippling your children then take it away for a day or two and just watch them. Their capacity for imaginative play will bloom right in front of you. Their curiosity, their interaction with those around them, their interest in doing things will all increase.
#23
I started in 1997. I have several observations:
1. Kids are not curious. They have the world at their fingertips but no academic interests.
2. Phone addiction
3. Maturity. When I had 8th graders between 1997-2006, I had to watch for kissing in hallways, making out under the bleachers. Now, my 8th graders don’t know how to communicate let alone be in a relationship. My 8th graders play tag in class. It feels like they are 4th graders. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad not to see all the making out and PDAs, but there was definitely a shift when the iPhone came out in 2007.
4. Litigious parents… get a life. Let your kid problem solve and figure things out. Build character and perseverance instead of “clearing their path” and threatening teachers and admin o er the slightest thing.
#24
I’ve been teaching since 2016. Reading stamina seems to be the biggest one.
Wintermute 2 months ago
I've noticed this even with myself. Before I deleted the distraction apps off my phone I had a hard time concentrating on books. Now I can focus again. Non-essential mobile apps are cancer. It should be illegal for kids to have access to most of them.
#25
Shorter attention span
Less creative play
Worse fine motor skills
Writing (mechanics, handwriting, and ideas) are much weaker
Less support at home
But my gosh they can figure out how to beat the Chromebook filter in no time.
Geoffrey Scott 3 months ago
May I also add, no fear of consequence? If my folks got a notification that I was googling "Boobs" on my Chromebook, it would NOT have gone well.
#26
They literally have no concept of consequences.
The number of stories I have read, videos I have watched, and incidents I have witnessed where a young student gets into serious trouble simply because they refused to follow simple instructions just amazes me.
For example, young man was told to leave a McDonald's (not sure which city, didn't catch that part) by a police officer and he just simply ignored him. Finally left, only to walk around to another door and go back inside. Officer arrested him, and he was completely confused as to why. Between all the cussing and other words we are not allowed to say/type it boiled down to "I'm hungry, so I'm going to get something to eat!".
#27
I found a video of myself student teaching in the mid 90s. Something I must have had to do for my practicum. I was teaching a lesson on direct/indirect objects. There were 26 kids sitting in rows, facing me, listening, raising their hands, and answering questions. The lesson was (upon reflection) pretty straightforward but not very exciting. Then I turned them loose onto some sentence writing and circulated around the room to check in here and there.
So besides the very 90s fashion choices, I was blown away by what I saw. The behavior of the kids was like something out of a time capsule. I remember having 1-2 “hard” kids, but there they were answering questions about indirect objects. No one was yelling, swearing, crying, or having a tantrum.
#28
Kids now are belligerent when you ask for their phone —straight up refuse. I have to call admin to come get phones. They just say no like I gave them an option.
I’ve never had a kid destroy property and scare the class until this year, and I’m lucky that I’ve made it this long.
cerinamroth 3 months ago
With how harmful and addictive phones are, it would be great to see them banned for kids until age 16 like smoking and drinking (I'm in Germany). Watch them get their attention span and hobbies back, it'll be like magic.
#29
I'm an art teacher but god damn their handwriting is sh*t. Comically big, completely illegible, letters not formed correctly, not within lines/margins if it's on loose leaf paper - straight up looks like a 1st grader wrote it. And this would be reg ed junior high...
Sometimes I feel so frustrated at them not getting incredibly basic art concepts and techniques, such as copying a similar value/line/angle or whatever, then realize they can't even write a letter g correctly, and it makes sense. They really cannot compare the likeness of something, be it letters or where a line should be placed. Concerning, as this was not something that I dealt with 10 years ago, outside of students with special needs. I have to use projects I used to do with middle schoolers with my high school classes. Projects I used to do with elementary are now used at the MS level. It's sad and scary to see the regression.
UnicornSnotRules 2 months ago
I'm an occupational therapist, and the amount of students that get referred to me for handwriting skills is astonishing. Most can't write/distinguish between upper and lower case letters - and these are middle schoolers. It's because learning to write has taken a back seat to typing/device use and testing. What people don't realize is that learning to write and prewriting skills helps us to learn all kinds of other useful skills besides actual writing!
#30
I run a knitting and crochet group at the high school I work at. Most of the kids are interested in crochet. As I'm teaching them, I have noticed quite a few kids lack the fine motor skills to manipulate the crochet hook and yarn.....like way beyond the "I'm a beginner" sort of mistakes one would expect to see.
#31
There's a total lack of independence or ability to do anything for themselves. Honestly, there is a lack of motivation to do anything slightly difficult.
Geoffrey Scott 3 months ago
Again...goes back to the home. "I can't". "Yes you can, and here's how, now YOU do it. It's ok to fail, but you are at LEAST trying".
#32
15 years in: kids do t have hobbies any more. They think playing on their phone is a hobby.
Huddo's sister 3 months ago
Most kids I know are overbooked after school. Gymnastic, dance, basketball, footy, martial arts...they have a lot of hobbies.
#33
For about 70% of them, their mental age is nowhere near their chronological age. Especially middle schoolers. Their mental age seems to match their reading grade level.
Andrew Keir 2 months ago
We may have to re-define how we calculate mental age? The goalposts may have moved, and it seems unwise to just ignore the advent of social media and instantaneous world-wide communications.
#34
Two things
1. Attention span has dropped in increase proportion to cell phone appeal. We fought texting twenty years ago. Now we fight the universal dopamine dispenser.
2. Respect for authority and leadership. There were always some kids who challenged your authority, but they could usually be dealt with early in the year and they either cut it out or found themselves in alternative school. Students now see no difference between a teacher and a student, getting upset when the teacher uses a phone, lighter, knife, or unblocked website to do part of their job. "You're not supposed to have a knife!". No, child, YOU are not allowed to, as a STUDENT. I am not restricted because I am an ADULT doing my JOB.
#2 is probably fanned by our systematic inability to make good on the discipline promised for #1, and due to growing parental and political attacks on teachers.
Andrew Keir 2 months ago
"I can do this but you can't, 'cos I'm an adult and you aren't" - may be true but still needs to be explained and justified to the young. They deserve this, at least. AND - how does "the discipline promised for #1' relate to 'pupils' reduced attention span'? If we want their attention we have to earn it, justify it and/or persuade them to give it. It can not be demanded and should never be enforced (outside of a prison, anyway).
#35
Fine motor skill seems to be way down. I teach instrumental music, and kids figuring out where to put their figures and how to maneuver them has gone way down since COVID.
#36
I just finished year 34, all in upper elementary and middle school.
Back in the day, I'd have one or two kids in a class who didn't give a flying f**k and who did literally nothing. Now it can be a third of the class. It's mind-blowing.
I will have several assignments over the course of a trimester where *less than half of the class* will get the thing done and turned in. Nearly every assignment will have a couple of kids who write their names on and then turn in *blank pieces of paper.*
For the first time, I'm having multiple kids not bother to finish their iReady diagnostics—they'll just sit there looking at the screen for several days until the window for administering the test closes.
#37
Attention span of a goldfish and it has to be entertaining or else they totally tune out. This is 2nd grade. Also the rudeness towards others, kids and adults.
#38
When I sub, I *rarely* see students reading books or drawing for fun (even in art class); they mostly use their laptops/phones to listen to videos or play games (with no headphones, of course — because f*ck other people, right?), but even more baffling are the ones who are told to put devices away that just sit in complete and total silence and do nothing but stare at the desk the entire class. They don't do worksheets, they don't do homework, they don't draw; nothing.
I'd definitely goof off or draw a little in classes I found boring, but I literally can't imagine not doing a single productive thing the entire day. These kids are turning school into a prison for themselves, rather than "I overall like this, but there's a few classes that suck."
They even get home room and recess now! I never got that. :(
#39
My (high school, foreign language) first 3 years were at a good public school. A competitor for best school in our state. My next and current 3 years were at a public charter which ranked DEAD LAST in the state for all high schools. My reason for moving was location and necessity and survival.
The kids at my current school are quantitatively, qualitatively, and gut analytically much less intelligent in all respects. It's fascinating in a sad way. All humans are programmed to learn a language, so we all have the same machinery. But my former students believed in their machinery and my current ones don't - they just assume everything is too foreign and it's just funny and embarrassing to talk different.
So my change was quality of students. Deep south - I hate to say it but they are as dumb as they come. I start a new job next month at the best school in the state. Hopefully they still care.
WhatEvenIsLife 3 months ago
If you're talking deep south - and I live in the deep south, and went to school here - it's not that they're less intelligent. It's that there's a very active culture of anti-intellectualism in a lot of places. The south tends to be more conservative and more religious. In my state, there's a constant push for things like creationism to be taught in public schools. Our state board of education is a bit infamous for things like wanting to adopt factually inaccurate textbooks. There's huge blowback against things like critical race theory and factually accurate sex education. People mock universities as "liberal brain washing." It's an entire vibe down here, man. Not everywhere and not everyone, but it is pervasive.
#40
At the start of my career, on days leading up to and day of an assessment my mornings would be absolutely devoured by students seeking extra help. Like, a full hour before the first bell I'd be circulating around answering questions and I would have to make a turn order and consolidate kids who had the same questions.
Last three or so years? Absolutely silent. One kid might come in and ask me one question they didn't really need to ask and just want some reassurance.
Dragon mama 3 months ago
They also take 5 times as many of those test as I did. Feels like there's a class exam or a school exam or a state exam or a nationwide exàm every darn week.
#41
The apathy is unreal.
Comment Deleted 2 months ago
And very scary. Kids are murdering kids for hurt feelings and are shocked when they get jail time.
#42
The maturity level has been reduced about three or four years since I started in 1990.
Luke Branwen 3 months ago
Idk, I'd say the kids are forced to mature faster nowadays. In this hyper-capitalist meat grinder, they're expected to have perfect school score, a job at 15, move out the day they hit 18, have a career at 20... there's barely any room for any real childhood.
#43
You are going to see a lot of the same responses, so I thought I'd add a couple of variations:
1) level of curiosity . . . almost non-existent today. When I started in the 90s, there were always a handful of students in every class that wanted to know "why?", but in recent years, it's either "just tell me the answer" (If they haven't already Googled it) or "who cares? Just mark it wrong".
2) parents' belief that any parent-directed time out of school (vacations, family reunions, etc.) are just as - if not even more - valuable as being in school. (On top of this, I am expected to provide makeup work for students that have missed days for this - ha!).
#44
At the highschool level it's participation in extracurriculars. It's hard to get kids to join clubs and what not.
René Sauer 3 months ago
And? If they don´t want to join clubs that´s nobody´s business. Maybe they have enough stuff on their plate elsewhere to care about clubs.
#45
They are just so much more casual with people in positions of authority. .
WhatEvenIsLife 3 months ago
I think this is kind of a "pendulum swinging too far the other way" thing. When I was a kid, you had to "respect" authority to the point of putting up with all kinds of c**p from adults simply because they were adults and you weren't allowed to call them out on it. It didn't matter if they were being illogical, unreasonable, petty, or downright stupid; if they were an adult or authority figure, you just obeyed. We didn't want our kids to suffer the same way, so we taught them that just because someone is older doesn't automatically mean they're right. In some cases, the attitude may have swung a little too far in the direction of "no one in a position of authority ever needs to be taken seriously."
#46
Over my 11/12 years honestly.... very little really.
Lazier hair.
Fashion has looped back around and now all of my clothing from high school is in style.
I guess kids are way less aware of what is happening in the world than 10 years ago since people don't watch TV news anymore or get newspapers, they aren't passively exposed as much. Though I still think the average kid today is more informed than the average kid pre-internet.
What do you think ?
RP 3 months ago
So many of these issues are coming from parents not doing their jobs. But this isn't just because parents randomly decided not to parent one day. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but the insane increase in rents/housing prices and gutting of social services and stable employment means both parents working full time (plus extra side hustles for many) but nothing in the system (like high quality daycare - it's terrible in Australia) or full school days.
Pan Narrans 2 months ago
I might get some flak for this but what is mind boggling to me is that in last years class of the intern three of them were in gender transition. In a class of 20! To me, gender dysphoria is real, and I have met some in a support group long ago. But three, in 20, is unfathomable for me. There will be a very big scandal in 10-20 years. Lots of regrets, and much blaming.
Miss Tinker 3 months ago
As a teachers aid I can relate to so many of these. So sad & frustrating to see children in Kindergarten & 1st class (I’m in Australia, so the students are ages 5-7) who don’t know the alphabet & struggle to spell their own name. Not the mention the countless times I have to tie shoelaces for 8 & 9 year olds because Mum & Dad haven’t bothered to teach them. Learning starts at home, yet it seems some parents expect teachers to do it all…
Grenelda Thurber 2 months ago
I started high school in 1979, and I heard almost every complaint listed here about "kids today" when I was a kid. We didn't have the internet or cell phones, but we had more of everything than most of our parents did, we had cars, our own bedrooms, telephones in our rooms, televisions in our rooms, the latest albums and fancy stereos, the latest jeans and tennis shoes, and in the case of my parents, indoor plumbing. We didn't appreciate any of it as much as older people thought we should, because that's all we knew. Elders have had the same complaints about kids since the beginning of time: Socrates (469–399 B.C. ) QUOTATION: "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households."
Ace 3 months ago
I think that every generation of teachers since the dawn of time will say exactly the same as this, with only the props changed. The older the teacher gets, the less tolerant they become and the more they remember their own education and how much better it was (in their own head).
Scott Rackley 2 months ago
From someone who has to teach these kids a skilled trade after the teachers are done, WTF. No attention span, no critical thinking, no perseverance, no initiative (that's the one that irks me). It's like teaching a goldfish how to bake a cake. I know it isn't all on the teachers but god damn.
Squiffle Noses 2 months ago
A lot of people talk about 'teachers' a pejorative fashion. Most teachers I remember were very good of very bad and had very little in common in their approach to children. I genuinely believe that a few of the F hated children. we need different words for different types of teacher so that we can talk about them properly.
Fabulous chocolate cookie 3 months ago
The biggest difference between now and then that I see around here is the growing number of fatbikes (electronic bicycles), phone addiction, tiktok culture, the normalization of carrying knives on the street, smoking/vapes/drinking from the age of 12 and especially the fact that parents neglect their children so much that these children seriously misbehave towards others. Furthermore, everyone is now on tiktok or other social media and children are almost born with an iPhone in their hands or are given one shortly after birth to keep them quiet.
Christopher Crockett 2 months ago
I grew up wanting to be a teacher. I wanted to make a difference. Unlike most, I wanted to teach the intro classes, to really hook them and get them interested. My life went in a different direction and I only taught as a teaching assistant in graduate school for one year and never again. Half a lifetime later I look at what educators face today and I feel like I dodged a bullet. When I hear stories about teachers just walking away, I'm not surprised. American education as a whole continues to get worse, and sometimes I feel like I'm watching the end of the Roman Empire in the West, only there are no barbarians at the gates, just parents and their children that no longer care.
AsylumWalker 2 months ago
Im betting they still had a lot of these problems way back when, these teachers are just looking back through rose coloured glasses
woodswhispers 2 months ago
It's so strange reading these because I graduated high school last year, and while I was homeschooled it was only for my last two years due to mental issues, so I think I can speak on some things. I had keyboard classes where we learned how to type correctly, shop class in middle school where we'd measure out and build things. I had my phone on me for emergencies and free time, but I couldn't sit in class on it the whole time, it'd get boring. My library was never in use the entire time I went to highschool though, and I never got to check out a book because there was no librarian. I feel so bad for the younger generation, and I honestly fear for my siblings. I try to teach them as best as I can, like trying to help with cursive since they weren't taught that in elementary/middle school, but they need constant learning that I can't give them. And one more thing, it feels like no one my age wants to do anything other than tippy tap on a phone :( I want to make friends and hang out in-
Steve Hall 2 months ago
It use to be you either did the work or you failed, then along came the idea of no child left behind and the failing stopped but the passing didn't really increase.
RP 3 months ago
So many of these issues are coming from parents not doing their jobs. But this isn't just because parents randomly decided not to parent one day. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but the insane increase in rents/housing prices and gutting of social services and stable employment means both parents working full time (plus extra side hustles for many) but nothing in the system (like high quality daycare - it's terrible in Australia) or full school days.
Pan Narrans 2 months ago
I might get some flak for this but what is mind boggling to me is that in last years class of the intern three of them were in gender transition. In a class of 20! To me, gender dysphoria is real, and I have met some in a support group long ago. But three, in 20, is unfathomable for me. There will be a very big scandal in 10-20 years. Lots of regrets, and much blaming.
Miss Tinker 3 months ago
As a teachers aid I can relate to so many of these. So sad & frustrating to see children in Kindergarten & 1st class (I’m in Australia, so the students are ages 5-7) who don’t know the alphabet & struggle to spell their own name. Not the mention the countless times I have to tie shoelaces for 8 & 9 year olds because Mum & Dad haven’t bothered to teach them. Learning starts at home, yet it seems some parents expect teachers to do it all…
Grenelda Thurber 2 months ago
I started high school in 1979, and I heard almost every complaint listed here about "kids today" when I was a kid. We didn't have the internet or cell phones, but we had more of everything than most of our parents did, we had cars, our own bedrooms, telephones in our rooms, televisions in our rooms, the latest albums and fancy stereos, the latest jeans and tennis shoes, and in the case of my parents, indoor plumbing. We didn't appreciate any of it as much as older people thought we should, because that's all we knew. Elders have had the same complaints about kids since the beginning of time: Socrates (469–399 B.C. ) QUOTATION: "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households."
Ace 3 months ago
I think that every generation of teachers since the dawn of time will say exactly the same as this, with only the props changed. The older the teacher gets, the less tolerant they become and the more they remember their own education and how much better it was (in their own head).
Scott Rackley 2 months ago
From someone who has to teach these kids a skilled trade after the teachers are done, WTF. No attention span, no critical thinking, no perseverance, no initiative (that's the one that irks me). It's like teaching a goldfish how to bake a cake. I know it isn't all on the teachers but god damn.
Squiffle Noses 2 months ago
A lot of people talk about 'teachers' a pejorative fashion. Most teachers I remember were very good of very bad and had very little in common in their approach to children. I genuinely believe that a few of the F hated children. we need different words for different types of teacher so that we can talk about them properly.
Fabulous chocolate cookie 3 months ago
The biggest difference between now and then that I see around here is the growing number of fatbikes (electronic bicycles), phone addiction, tiktok culture, the normalization of carrying knives on the street, smoking/vapes/drinking from the age of 12 and especially the fact that parents neglect their children so much that these children seriously misbehave towards others. Furthermore, everyone is now on tiktok or other social media and children are almost born with an iPhone in their hands or are given one shortly after birth to keep them quiet.
Christopher Crockett 2 months ago
I grew up wanting to be a teacher. I wanted to make a difference. Unlike most, I wanted to teach the intro classes, to really hook them and get them interested. My life went in a different direction and I only taught as a teaching assistant in graduate school for one year and never again. Half a lifetime later I look at what educators face today and I feel like I dodged a bullet. When I hear stories about teachers just walking away, I'm not surprised. American education as a whole continues to get worse, and sometimes I feel like I'm watching the end of the Roman Empire in the West, only there are no barbarians at the gates, just parents and their children that no longer care.
AsylumWalker 2 months ago
Im betting they still had a lot of these problems way back when, these teachers are just looking back through rose coloured glasses
woodswhispers 2 months ago
It's so strange reading these because I graduated high school last year, and while I was homeschooled it was only for my last two years due to mental issues, so I think I can speak on some things. I had keyboard classes where we learned how to type correctly, shop class in middle school where we'd measure out and build things. I had my phone on me for emergencies and free time, but I couldn't sit in class on it the whole time, it'd get boring. My library was never in use the entire time I went to highschool though, and I never got to check out a book because there was no librarian. I feel so bad for the younger generation, and I honestly fear for my siblings. I try to teach them as best as I can, like trying to help with cursive since they weren't taught that in elementary/middle school, but they need constant learning that I can't give them. And one more thing, it feels like no one my age wants to do anything other than tippy tap on a phone :( I want to make friends and hang out in-
Steve Hall 2 months ago
It use to be you either did the work or you failed, then along came the idea of no child left behind and the failing stopped but the passing didn't really increase.
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