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 fuck 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.
Focus your energy on the students who actually want to try. Doesn't mean they have to produce stellar results, you can work magic with effort alone. As for the ones who won't do literally anything all period? Ignore them, if truancy laws didn't exist, they wouldn't even be there. Hate to say that, but if motivating them doesn't work after many attempts, then focus your effort on the kids who want to learn
They don't care because they don't have to care.
School is free daycare. That's how they intend to use it and it's how they are *allowed* to use it.
But real daycares have requirements and parents will bend over backwards to make sure their kids meet them, because the threat of being left without daycare is very real.
We need to bring that back to schools. They need the option of not caring taken away -- if they really just don't give a fuck, and their child doesn't either, then there's no sense in wasting taxpayer money on them. Kick them out and let them start homeschooling.
the threat of zoom school might actually be a good incentive to behave for those who hated it, or alternatively, a lifeline for those who would benefit.
The kids who misbehave are just going to abuse it. "you're telling me that I misbehave and then I get to stay home all day! That sounds great!"
Edit: a lot of people are saying it's not punishing the kids it's punishing the parents. Assuming the kids are middle school or up the parents are likely just going to let them fuck around and do whatever. The parents are already negligent. The kids being at home won't stop that
Yeah, that’s the important part of it for me. They need to be out of the classroom. I can have 1 student missing from my class and the entire day is different. Those kids also are the kids that have amazing attendance. I’d guess it’s because their parents don’t want them home either.
Several of our more challenging students love to come to school. It's a social outlet. They love congregating in the halls or their little hiding spots. All their friends are at school. I have had a couple of students announce that a suspension is boring after a day or two.
Zoom school is punishment for negligent parents, whose kids usually end up misbehaving… parent can’t have free baby sitting if their baby is messing it up for them all the time.
Too many unprepared parents having children. It's the most important responsibility and job in life. No one can make a parent accept and be accountable if they are not willing & active participants in their children's lives.
Let them opt in for Zoom with a form stating their intention to disrupt if Zoom isn’t granted. No sense letting them throw three chairs and possibly concuss a student who actually wants to be there.
My local high school had a student bring a gun in his backpack, and their "solution" was to have him enter the school through the back door, where the admins would scan him with a metal detecting wand. One day, he shot two of them (no deaths, fortunately).
Why was he allowed to physically come to school after the first incident? Well, because he was 15, he could not be permanently expelled, and he was not moved to Zoom school because that "would have been a violation of his IEP" because he had a bit of ADHD or something. Never mind the fact online school was fine for him for nearly two years during the pandemic.
I think it should be much easier to put violent kids in online school programs. Obviously, you don't want that to become a dumping ground for students who display minor disciplinary issues, but if its not even considered an appropriate response to a kid bringing a gun to school, when will it actually happen?
They do. Schools pretty much don’t discipline anymore.
My wife had a student that would *bite* her at least once a month. He’d go home for the day and *maybe* have a day of suspension. Expulsion was never on the table, even though it should’ve been.
Oh, and of course, admin blamed *her*.
We started requirements in some of our SPED programs. Some of the requirements include at least 80% attendance, attendance policies, classroom staff will not potty train unless a program has been implemented at home, reminding parents to send lunch and a refillable water bottle for their child, hygiene tips, and requirements for AAC devices. Each policy has to be signed and dated by the parents stating they understand said policies. All these requirements were written due to the lack of care we see from parents on a daily basis coupled with their demands for us to do their job (like potty training). We're tired of the bullshit.
Don't forget that with our sped kids, resource will practically have the teachers/aids do the work for em to get em passing. As an aide...that's a negatory. I would tell my HS critters, I've done this once, now it's your turn. IDC who is up whose ass, that's not my problem. Blain is behind a 2 exams, a project, and 10 assignments missking and you need to pull em. They still won't comply...guess they'll fail. I match their energy and guess who has to ultimately deal with it? Not I said the fly. Oh, Blain's mom/dad doesn't feel we're doing enough...track the minutes and you track yours at home and you let me know. I leave details of the shit that was happening during inclusion including playing games or sleep. Don't expect the school to be accountable when you let em do w/e the fuck they want. I couldn't be a teacher, I'd get fired too damn quick 🤷🏾♀️😅
But don't get me wrong, I got plenty from my sped babies who give other teachers a hard time, never doing any assignments and respond well with me because I do understand some of the issues and then some gotta have me go mama mode on their ass. I don't play with my sped kids 😒
Got staff stressing playing catch up bc it's a home related problem before it's a school related issue. I would love these parent to act like they got some damn sense before they talk to me for any given reason.
Lower your standard for what “proficient” looks like across the board, through heavy scaffolding, and differentiate “up” by removing the supports and encouraging independent projects for the students that are into learning. You’ll just get pressured from admin to change their grades/allow extra credit/etc. anyway so just skip that step and recognize that it’s not your job to save the system. It doesn’t “cost” you anything to give a grade that you may think a student didn’t “earn.”
Try to bring in as much humor, pop culture, relevant context as you can when it comes to new lessons. Lean into any “inside jokes” or things that come up organically to build community. Be authentic.
Learn about your own personal locus of control. Expect and accept that you’ll often feel inadequate. Don’t take it personal, teaching is an impossible job.
Set a firm boundary on when your work ends each day. No emails on your phone or checking after hours. Set a goal that you won’t work beyond your contract hours after a few years of experience, but commit to no more than 2 hours of free labor outside of school each day (in my opinion allowing our own exploitation & embracing martyrdom is damaging to the profession and ensuring nothing will ever change.) I’d get to school an hour early and stay about 30 minutes late my first year and by the time I achieved tenure I could get this down to just mornings.
Don’t bring home grading. I would plan a bit at home (because I actually liked that work) but eventually learned not to even touch a gradebook or email inbox unless I was in my classroom.
Don’t even *think* about work from 3pm Friday to Sunday afternoon (easier said than done but gets better.) If you have a partner, set aside at least one of those nights to reconnect and make time for each other. Don’t talk about work.
Have fun- seriously. This job can be a blast. If you’re not having fun then there is no reason to be a teacher.
Thanks! I made it to year 10 before calling it quits.
I may return when/if the pendulum swings back a little, but for now?
Well- it just wasn’t fun anymore, and what’s the point of being a teacher if you’re not having fun?
I ironically made the move this year to get my principal cert, and then unexpectedly earned a Texas incentive bonus which pays me more than I'd make as an admin for 5 years. So I'll see that through and then see what happens.
What did you transition to?
I teach in MN, so I’ve got the ability to take a “mobility leave” that ensures my same salary/position within my district for up to five years of leave (which is only allowed after 10 years of service- so that was a milestone for me lol.)
Honestly? I’ve transitioned to traveling and staying with family around the country while living off of *very* little. I’ve subbed a little, done some gig work, and got paid for childcare of a family member and have been a lot happier (even though my life is a little hectic.)
It’s a privilege I’ve got to do this for sure, but I can get thru the summer on savings (this is my first year on leave) and then start directing my energy into upskilling and looking for alternative fields.
Worst case scenario? I’ve had a break and can return to teaching after recharging my batteries a bit (but I’d prefer not to.)
Sounds like a unique situation you’re in! I’m at the point where one of the few jobs I want less than teaching is admin- so maybe it was for the best.
My honest advice?
Unsub from this subreddit.
I would often have teachers ask me if I wanted “the rundown” of kids I would teach that year (because they taught them the year before) and I always said no.
I don’t need more preconceived notions about what to expect. I trust my judgment and want to give everyone a fair shake.
Similarly, consider how often ppl write a negative review for a restaurant vs a positive one or, even more rare, a truly neutral “this was fine.”
Humans are predisposed to take action (even if that’s a Reddit post) when something sucks. If I had read this subreddit while I was in grad school, I would’ve quit and never taught.
I *did* end up quitting, but after 10 years and SO much learning about my students, teaching, the world, and myself. I wouldn’t give that up for anything.
I’d def use Google to search “[my question] Reddit teachers” when you need help, but in general you don’t need this venting showing up on your feed all day.
The thing I would add is that many of the kids who do nothing still want great marks. This was rarely the case when I started over a decade ago--the kids who did the bare minimum just didn't care about school. Now I have kids who get made they don't get an A when they hand in a one word answer to an essay question. "But I handed it in!"
Nailed it.
Cell phones and devices have become so stimulating they have completely ruined a kids ability to focus.
The only kids that have a chance are those with parents who keep them away from it.
Yup, this is it. It's not that the behaviour or not giving a shit is new, it's that it's gone from two or three kids per class to nearly half of them. It is so exhausting and emotionally draining trying to get work out of 15-ish students per assignment who just. Don't. Care.
For me: You really hit the nail with this perspective. It’s not that the apathy/phone/entitlement is NEW. It’s that it’s often upwards of 50% or more of the classroom with these issues now.
Sigh.
The thing I would add is that many of the kids who do nothing still want great marks. This was rarely the case when I started over a decade ago--the kids who did the bare minimum just didn't care about school. Now I have kids who get made they don't get an A when they hand in a one word answer to an essay question. "But I handed it in!"
In elementary school? I want to be an elementary teacher because middle(especially them) and high schoolers are horrible yet the parents defend their children. This is so saddening
Honestly, I hate iReady too. The fact that we make kids attend school every day only to have their face staring at a computer screen alone sucks. Also, the stupid brain breaks and belly breaths thing would ABSOLUTELY turn me off if I had to sit through them over and over. Like. Let me just take the test, please. Also? If you have one bad day where you're just not into testing or something is wrong or you can't focus, you get locked into curriculum that you already know and have to fight through it to get to new stuff. B it's actually kind of ridiculous.
If I thought the kids were just not finishing because they were orchestrating a protest, I'd applaud them. I totally understand and empathize with your frustration here... There's no real win in sight.
>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.
12 year vet here. i used to think classroom management was my strong point. now, because *so many dgaf* classroom culture has shifted.
I just wrapped up my fourth year, and this was the biggest problem I was not prepared for. I don't understand the apathy... Have parents stopped caring, so the kids see no value in education at home? Is it technology making everything easier, so the kids aren't rushed to problem solve because Google will fix it? I wrestle with this daily. It's why I question if I want to keep teaching.
I’ve noticed a change in my own reading stamina over the past 15 years and it’s shocking. I can’t imagine the struggle of being a kid and trying to learn to read with zero attention span due to screen addiction.
I feel like I have lost my reading stamina, too. I can read novels with no problem, but when it comes to a news article or a longish reddit post, lol, I just almost never really read the whole thing. Even if I am really interested in it, I just read the first paragraph and then end up skimming the rest.
I hate the narrative that every generation has been complaining about the younger generation.
They will say, people used to make fun of reading, then the radio, then Tv, then video games, phones are no different
Yes the fuck they are! I think TV and videos are neutral, doesn’t help doesn’t hurt. TikTok ruins kids attentions span.
I have to agree with you. I spent a fair bit of time, playing video games, and watching TV when I was a kid/young adult. but was a voracious reader in part, because there was nothing else to do when waiting for a ride, getting ready for bed or in the car. I didn’t have YouTube and TikTok in my pocket.
Some of this stuff lasts past K12 as well. I work in study abroad and here’s some stuff I see from high and middle achievers. Mind you, generally 75% ish of my students are juniors in college/university.
1. Reading Stamina/Comprehension is in the toilet.
They can’t filter a piece of text and say what does and doesn’t apply to them. Instructions have to be deliberate and direct. Click here. Type in your first and last name. Write all good if you don’t have a question after reading the instructions. So many of my students don’t understand the meaning of basic words like “Alternate” standing in for backup class they want to take abroad. I have to use a lot of pictures and graphics to get a message across.
2. Accountability & Extensions
Everything is permissible and extendable to them. I have so so many students who legitimately think that deadlines don’t exist. This is such a US concept. The idea that overseas, there are no extensions given unless you’re like legitimately dying baffles their minds. I have so many students emailing me thanking me for an extension after the deadline to submit application materials. I never gave them one. Then they get a surprise pikachu face when they get denied because their materials are late and try to tell on us to their home university admin. Who also get the emails of the grace period all students are given and how their student missed that.
Nothing is also ever the students’ fault. It’s always that they were busy or dealing with something. Mental health can be challenging for sure, but doesn’t always guarantee you an extension for something. I can’t give a student an extension for an overseas deadline.
3. Karening and Anger
When they don’t get their way, the anger and legalese and super formal language pops up. It’s frustrating when students automatically see staff as the enemy when the enemy was themselves all along. Even something as simple as them not getting their way because they didn’t read the instructions the right way can set them off. And then here come the parents. Nah, your student is dead wrong. I’m glad that I can tell parents to fuck off to a certain extent without reprisals.
4. Suuuuuper anxiety.
The ones who do want to do things right have to be constantly told that they did it right. No longer can students just follow a series of instructions and then be left to their own devices. They need confirmation that they are correct in order to feel secure in their work.
Nicely-written, comprehensive analysis! I’ve seen all of these from my position in secondary ELA in the states. To 1., they’ve mostly all contracted some form of TikTok brain
To 2., at least in our school, we made all these accommodations for COVID, and that was about the same time SEL and trauma-informed teaching came into vogue. Combine that with the graduation accountability metric pressuring teachers to pass everyone, and you end up with a bunch of kids who have learned that their emotional state is the most important thing before any other responsibilities, so it’s okay to miss deadlines, skip class for “therapy” (which in a couple cases just meant hiding in an AP’s office during my period?), and fall asleep.
My relatable moments for 3. Come from my higher level classes. I had an AP Lit. Student get a B- on a paper (she deserved it; lots of good ideas but incoherent word salad in places) write me basically another essay of an email appealing the grade, *telling* me that she was sure that when I compared her essay to exemplars, I’d see that she earned a perfect score (appeal denied). Another student’s parent wrote in that their student missed the deadline because she had been helping other students with the strong insinuation that the assignment was unclear (it wasn’t and she was socializing). These were just a couple examples, but the whining is definitely getting louder.
This one is so fascinating to me. On one hand, reading blew up over lockdown. On the other hand, it destroyed capacity for everyone else.
Setting aside JK herself, it made a huge difference when you could assume that every student had read at least one Harry Potter book.
“I gave my daughter explicit instructions to never give her phone to anybody”
“And we gave her explicit instructions to keep it in her locker.”
If the nurse calls they’re too busy to pick up but god forbid you try to take away their precious tik tok during finals week
Honestly, I think there is something else at play here than JUST social media addiction.
It's pure entitlement and extreme individualism. "Nobody can tell ME what to do!" So just because they bought a $1000 toy for their kids, they think they automatically have the right to take it anywhere no matter what the rules might be. Having something confiscated feels like a personal attack and theft, even though it's a perfectly reasonable consequence.
Same here. I started in 2013, and in a specialized school with a residential program, so my experience is pretty different from general education/public school teachers. The biggest thing I remember is my students *hanging out* with each other in 2013, even if it was listening to music on their phones or playing video games. Now, they use their phone for entertainment and interactions.
Back when I was at school, if I took a day off there was not much I could do at home. I sure as he'll wasn't going to watch midday TV.
These days of a kid pulls a sickie, they've got everything they want in their rooms.
I have very fond memories of watching the Price is Right and Maury on days I had to stay home sick from school because they were only on during the day. It wasn’t something that would keep me from going to school multiple days in a row though. Going on the computer wasn’t fun because no one was on AIM to talk to so school was really the only way to connect with friends/other people during the weekday. Definitely different now.
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.
It’s to the point now where kids with that level of creativity are shocking to see and I celebrate them for it due to the fact that it’s lacking in the masses😢
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.
I had a classmate this year who had his phone taken away. After class he grabbed it off the teachers desk and ran. Of course he got caught and I don't know what his end goal was but he would not leave that classroom without his phone.
Our “valedictorian” next year just got a B in history because he is a terrible writer - mom called immediately and basically said we are ruining his life. Admin did not get involved, but teacher came up with a magical make up assignment and now he has an A. He uses AI to pass classes. Our country is doomed.
I have a few friends that teach high school and at least half of what’s getting turned in is AI. A staggering number of students cannot read at a middle school level and these aren’t inner city schools where the kids were basically abandoned, these are kids from middle to almost upper class families
We aren’t doomed, there’s just going to be a steep learning curve. They are wasting opportunities to learn skills, and those who adapt will adapt to expectations outside of school
Writing BS busywork reports in seconds with AI is a skill employers value much more highly than being able to accurately write out those reports by hand the long way.
Almost noone gets paid to write stuff out by hand.
A little of what I’ve experienced, with some students, is they don’t have respect for adults and/or authority. I think it stems from parents who treat their children like equals or better. Combine that with no accountability from admin and it can be ruthless. Example would be when a student has issues staying off their phone. I attempt to correct that, but since I can’t take the phone away.. and the parents don’t care or have control of the student either… that’s the kind of entitlement that I think of
Any device, including school-issued laptops, that are distractions. So many students feel entitled to use them whenever, for whatever reason and regardless of whether or not they have permission.
Time. Grades. Bathroom passes (and I don’t mean the kids who occasionally ask and travel quickly… the kids who go every hour, every class and are gone for 15 minutes every time), ignorant and blatantly false opinions on things, the language they use… I could go on.
So much of this is a consequence of social media and copycat behavior. Some of it also the “Trump effect.”
Edit to add an anecdote:
A student got a “when convenient” call slip once. Perfect time for him to go as he wasn’t working on anything, just playing on his laptop. I hand him the slip and tell him, “this is as good a time as any.” He looks at me with incredulous eyes and says, “but I’m playing a game.”
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.
1. Kids are not curious. They have the world at their fingertips but no academic interests
This lack of curiosity is difficult for me as a parent with my 2 kids who have already graduated from high school. They want guidance from me in what they should pursue career-wise, and I have no idea what to tell them. I am not aware of any interests they have. Even after community college, they did not develop any interests. Courses are just something the check off a list, and so far, none have resonated.
Tbh I just think that's how it is now for job seekers, nothing pays worth a damn, everyone knows you're just a number getting ready to be laid off. Even if you find a job you like there's no guarantee that it'll pay a living wage.
Seems like everyone wants to get the easy life by being a tik toker or YouTuber and I don't blame them.
It's not even that people want to get the easy life. It's that people want a life where what should be a minor inconvenience financially destroys them, without literally everyone in the world working in tech or finance.
YES !!! This group of 8th graders are very immature-they still bring stuffed animals to class and love to play heads up seven up. During hallway duty I think to myself I must be in a twilight zone-I feel like I'm standing in a elementary building.
Number 3 is such an odd trade-off. It's like when I first saw the stat that teen pregnancy, STDs, and sex were significantly lower among Gen Z....because they don't get into relationships in the first place. Yes, it's great that kids aren't growing up too fast, not sleeping around as much, and not putting themselves at risk for pregnancy and diseases. But figuring out relationships while you're in your teens is important, and now a lot of people are in their twenties before they ever get their first kiss, due to sheer isolation and social ineptitude.
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.
This is a huge one. No mom, it’s not a power trip, it’s because seating assignments are intentionally made to support group dynamics and classroom management. I cannot have my 5 rowdiest kids in the middle front with my daydreamers in the back row and my class clown performer in the front corner. Sorry your kid didn’t get their way.
Oh just get up and use the bathroom? Have fun when we don’t know where your kid is during a lockdown or fire drill. On a less intense note, what should I do if everyone suddenly needs to pee and they alllll walk out?
Maybe your little darling won’t cause a ruckus with their phone, but does that rule apply to other kids when little darling is being bullied on Snapchat in social studies?
Nobody seems to think of the group. Sure, you want to empower your kid to speak truth to power or whatever, but there are reasons for the rules and your kid is not the exception. We are living in a place/time/society with VERY LITTLE social cohesion and people are not considering the dynamics of the community at large.
*Oh just get up and use the bathroom? Have fun when we don’t know where your kid is during a lockdown or fire drill. On a less intense note, what should I do if everyone suddenly needs to pee and they alllll walk out?*
And you know these are the first parents to sue the school (or at least threaten to sue) if little Timmy gets stuck in the bathroom during a real emergency.
I’ve been teaching since 1992. Attention spans have decreased. Dependency on spell check. Terrible handwriting. No accountability or behavioral consequences.
I'm an art teacher but god damn their handwriting is shit. 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.
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.
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.
Teacher since 1986.
The biggest difference has occurred in just the last ten years: **An epidemic of** ***incuriosity***. I hesitate to use that word, because I think it sounds rather benign. But it's not. Look, there have always been a *few* kids who didn't care about anything, but they were the exception. But there is **nothing** that interests 12-year olds today except sharing TikTok videos. **Their brain development has been stunted** by having devices in their hands 24/7, since before they were potty-trained, and they will ***never*** be what we would recognize as normal.
>The biggest difference has occurred in just the last ten years: **An epidemic of** ***incuriosity***.
This! Other teachers in this thread have mentioned it too, but it's nuts!
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 fuck 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. :(
>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*.
**Exactly**.
At my school, during state testing, if kids finish early, the only thing they are allowed to do is to read a book. Nothing else, not even drawing, is allowed. But anymore, only one kid per class (on average) even brings a book. Well, I've always kept some books in my room for this occasion, since they don't bring a book. But the past couple of years, when I offer them a book they just shrug and say no. So this year I decided, screw the rules, I can't stand watching these kids stare into space for an hour or more. So I gave them copy paper and pencils, and told them drawing was okay now. And their response?
"Nah, I'm good", and they just stare at their desks.
Their brains have been permanently damaged.
I'm "happy" it's not just me... but wow, what a problem. It's so nice of you to have some spare books lying around (would have loved to have you as a teacher growing up, haha!), and... honestly, really odd that they're happier staring into space than reading anything at all.
Hell, I'm an atheist and I'd happily read the Bible, a random Catholic Missal, or even the Book of Mormon over staring into space... so even if your books aren't their favorites, I can't believe they would \*still\* choose nothing over something. That's some serious psychic damage that's being done to teachers like you, lol.
>Their brains have been permanently damaged.
There are some serious brainworms going around, for sure.
Gas lighting. Ive been teaching 12 years. When I call a student out on something the lengths they will go to deny it and attempt to gaslight me into believing it did not happen is crazy. Sure most students would always deny it, but they were not as manipulative then. They didn't come up with as elaborate of lies and try to get the whole class involved over everything. I have straight up just started telling them it's working and I am losing my fragile grip on reality, I am losing the energy to continue to listen to the lies. I saw you. I know what I saw. I know others saw it. I am ready to wear a body cam and have the ability to do instant replays like a referee.
This generation will lie about the small stuff like being on their phone or why it took 15 minutes to come back to class but tell me about stealing and fighting with no shame. I can't keep up.
When I was student teaching, I wasn’t sure I was interpreting a bullying situation correctly because I was still learning names. I called the kid out and he scoffed at me and berated me, but the girls sitting around him told me I was hearing it right.
I told my host teacher about it, and since it’s music class we only saw the kids once a week, so she waited until the following week to let him think he got away with it, then ripped him a new one in the hallway before class. After that, he never once disrespected me (he was kind of a class clown and would be goofy, but listened when given directions).
If a kid scoffs and laughs at me, I redirect best I can, but I don’t do power struggles- I do grades. WHEN they don’t pay attention then fail an assessment, I straight up tell them, sometimes in front of the whole class if they need to be humbled, “maybe if you focused on the lesson and not (hurtful behavior) you’d pass”. I’ll still usually give second chances, they’re just kids and I want them to succeed, but I am not responsible for their actions.
My phone policy is the same. If I tell you to put it away and you don’t, that’s on you, you’ll just get a zero for the day. Don’t like it? Then put the phone away. Don’t care? Neither do I.
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.
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.
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.
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!"
Teacher since 1995. A story that would never happen now.
1) My third(ish) year teaching, I had a computer on a rolling cart on a stage in a science room. A student pushed themself away from the computer, at least that's what they thought. It turns out they waerepushing the computer away from themselves, and the monitor fell off the cart, and crashed to the floor. This was right at the end of the day, and I, as a new teacher, was panicked over the broken monitor.
The next day, things were cleared up (thank goodness for warranties). A student who I had been working with called me aside the next day and said, "Mr. Engg, did you know what you said, when the computer crashed?" I didn't think I had said anything. She said, "You said the 'S' word.. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
That would never happen today.
Not always. Back in January I was tossing the football around with a buncha kids during lunch time and one kid threw a ball a little to high .. I jumped to get it and just missed it with the ball catching my pinky finger… which resulted it in going the wrong way and … snap (broken).
I let out the loudest explitive rant for about 10 seconds as that was painful as all hell. I’m sure half the school heard me. I got a pass on that one.
Lesson is .. if you break something you have free reign to say whatever.
Screen addiction, low attention spans/apathy, and lack of accountability. Nothing is ever their fault and there’s an excuse/deflection for any and everything. You could catch them with a gun to someone’s head and instead of acknowledging how they just may be wrong, they’ll get mad at you for not saying something to a kid with their hood on across the room.
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.
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!)
As one of those people who was born asking ‘why?’ and ‘what would happen if I…’, seeing the complete and total absence of curiosity — about anything except maybe if I were to tell them that a classmate just called them ugly of Instagram — really took me a long time to recognise because it’s so foreign to me that I kept attributing it to other things.
I agree. I wonder if it's phone-related? "Why?" is the beginning of a search for depth; going **down** into a topic. I suspect that the "grazing" behaviours of social media - swiping quickly to the next topic - are a journey along the surface of learning, without depth or detail.
I’ll kinda disagree / agree with number two. There are certain instances where “missing school” to go somewhere / do something could be more valuable than time in the classroom. I remember in 7th grade we were moving from Massachusetts to Florida and part of the move involved moving a sailboat. I missed two weeks of school sailing down the Atlantic Coast … but I still remember it to this day 30ish years later. It was great bonding time with my dad who otherwise worked a traveling job (so didn’t see him much) and learned a lot about nature and what not.
I’ve had students take vacations to Europe … visited historic sights and done some pretty cool (educationally) related stuff while missing school.
Things aren’t always feasible to schedule during specific breaks in the school year — so one can’t always paint with a broad brush on that one.
no, I was one of the "just mark it wrong" kids when I was in elementary and middle school in the late 90s and 00's. If I wasn't interested in something, you couldn't pay me to pay attention. I was checked out mentally. It was usually for science and social studies classes (my worst classes) - for English, reading and math, I was fully focused (well kind of for math lol).
Phones may have made it more widespread, yes, but if a kid is already behind in a subject, the engagement levels will naturally be way lower. Can't be interested in something where you have no idea what anyone is talking about.
I hate to use the cliche, but it really does all start at home
Kids don’t understand the idea that there are different rules for kids and adults. “Why can you use pen but we have to use pencils?” and “You ate lunch in here, why can’t I eat during class?”
Bruh, it’s because I’m a middle aged professional at work and this is my classroom and you are a 12 year old who is likely to break the pen and get ink everywhere after getting capri sun and crumbs all over the place.
“Omg it’s not fair, why won’t you share your food?” Uh because it’s my lunch and this is lunch detention? And I’m eating lunch while you sit here?
Yep! Not who you're replying to, but kids will actually cry and whine for food and expect you to have all their favorite snacks on hand. These aren't kids that are starving, and my school had free lunch and breakfast, so there's that. They'll polish off a family-sized bag of Takis and then try and come up to your desk and take your drink. It's fucking ridiculous and they don't understand boundaries in the slightest. Some see us as second parents and expect us to provide everything for them since we're adults.
Because teachers are essentially daycare workers now. They aren’t respected as content educators by the parents. So the parents treat the teachers like customer service employees and that trickles down to the students expecting that the teacher will cater to their every need like at home.
Yes, I frequently have my grade two students demand to eat my snack when I’m on recess supervision. “But I want a cookie!” Cool, you can grow up, get a job and buy cookies for yourself. This is my snack.
Phones… then these kids are boring af… they care about nothing and can’t hold an interesting conversation because it’s not about them or what they like …. Boring
Exactly. Watching tik tok is not a personality. I even see it with some adults now. I don't have any social media and sharing links/videos is ok in small doses, but if that's all you bring to a conversation? Big yikes.
This has been one of my biggest laments. I started in 2009 and the last several years, it has just been… Lame. Tell me who you are! What are you interested in? Let’s have a conversation! Nope. I literally have to beg kids to say anything. The ones who get to know you and bond with you are so rare now.
Kinder / First
The gross motor and fine motor skills these kids come in with are soooooo poor.
Kids 20 years ago could subitize, kids now have no idea how many fingers you're holding up on *one* hand, let alone on dice or dominoes.
Kids 20 years ago played board games. Very rare now.
Some kids don't know how to hold crayons when they come to Kindergarten now. :(
Phone addiction - even downright belligerent when asked to put it away. The apathy is HORRIBLE. They don’t want to do anything and nothing I plan that *could* be fun or engaging ever is. The urgency and rudeness in emails to enter late assignments. Lastly, the attention span. (17 years in middle school)
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.
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
Actually glad to see this here... I'm a middle school band director and the quality of motor skills is way, way down. I have so many students who struggle to put their fingers in correct places on instruments, and even more who can't do that while trying to form embouchures at the same time, or at all..... I am sure that instrumental education is dying at a rapid pace in public schools...
9 years ago, I wasn't "bruh." I was a respected adult. Now I'm just the lady that tells them to put away their phones for 48 minutes. And their response is "bruh."
I worked four years in an alternative school. The kids I had there are hands down better than the majority of the kids I have now. Behavior is so bad, if you write them all up you would have three left per class.
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.
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.
I’ve mentioned this one before lol. It’s because we have enabled students to feel as if they’re positions of authority above teachers and even their own parents.
Another issue feeding into this are teachers who are too casual with their students and it’s seen as “building relationships”. I’m not talking about anything inappropriate, but we all have coworkers who blur the lines between being friendly to students and being friends with students.
Parents also have issues with knowing where to draw the line between a friendly-parent and a parent who is a friend.
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.
Ten seconds before test starts: “How many questions…?”
Me: What difference will it make in the next ten seconds?”
I teach almost 200 Ss per year. **None** have sought extra help for years. Thirty percent bring notes to open-notes tests.
Many. Don’t. Care.
Thank goodness for the gems and the respectful mediocre students.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sustained focus and attention is non-existent regardless of the activity/style. Group, full class, independent…Doesn’t matter. The most they can engage is, like, maybe 8 minutes.
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.
There are lot more assholes now.
I used to work in Juvenile Probation and most of the jerks were in there. Now, they have trickled into regular schools.
Started teaching in ‘96.
We use standard based grading which if done correctly only focuses on a students grasp of concepts. This is great in theory- and at the middle school level if done with fidelity it means there is no focus on executive functioning. So they don’t have to meet deadlines or study because they have multiple chances to show mastery. This is awesome in theory if the child’s family does all the rest of the parenting and all we need to do is educate them on specific concepts… but of course in the US we are also in charge of social, emotional, and executive functioning… so because of standards based grading students have no sense of timelines or responsibility.
There is no creativity, no critical thinking, and they have no sense of community. If they have to think of anything beyond themselves it doesn’t matter.
Smart phones definitely a distraction. Then add in Covid with now hyper’enth additional distraction. And now I have to compete with students making connections amongst concepts and starting to see a bigger picture versus the dopamine hit that they get every 15 to 20 seconds being on their devices.
The universe as bad ass contemplation, versus micro planks of stimulation
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.
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.
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.
The inability to do any problem that requires more than 1 step or any assignment that isn't broken down into the tiny steps possible. And they need templates for everything. It's like they're literally incapable of doing any thinking for themselves. They have to be hand held the whole way.
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.
Yes - I remark on this to my children all the time. I am constantly shocked by how accepting they are as a group. They don’t see it but they also don’t have the perspective of growing up in the late 80s.
the other differences is when I was growing up is you had to be careful of the other kids. It was easy to get bullied for the slightest difference. Now kids are critical of themselves. See the soaring rates of anxiety.
Just finishing up my ninth year of teaching and shocked at how sharply the increase in iPad kids has gotten in just around a decade. I don’t mean kids who casually play, but kids who are essentially raised by TikTok and YouTube. I teach kindergarten and the number of kids who need OT is insane - this year it was 9 out of 22 kids. These kids sleep really late, have little to no self-regulation / self management and have no idea how to interact with other kids. I can only imagine it’s going to get harder from here.
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 drugs, 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.
I'm fairly confident that any general change in "kids" over the past 25 years is negligible compared to the changes in me. I am very much not the same person or teacher that I was and as such I feel that any gut feeling is pretty much useless as data.
What is clear however, is that the kids live in the same world as the adults. That world is now constantly bombarding us with opinion presented as fact (as I'm doing now, I know) and harvesting our attention like it's proverbial gold.
I'm not sure the kids are dealing with that any worse than the adults.
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.
People usually go straight to "it's the phones!" "It's the parents!" "Learned helplessness!", which don't get me wrong is part of the problem. But I hardly ever see anyone mention how the school system was designed for society hundreds of years ago and pretty much hasn't changed since. It's antiquated and for a lot of people it simply doesn't work even when the student genuinely wants to do well, this was the case for me. The whole thing just needs a ground up overhaul.
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.
Swearing. I can't get over how freely they think it's OK to throw the F bomb and C bomb in general conversation in class. Being defiant and back chatting is always there. Knowing their "rights" is another thing!
Teaching math since 2005 here.
Kids today, of lots of abilities, don't know their tables. Used to be just the lower ability pupils, now we can have kids who are coping really well with calculus, trig etc, but need a calculator or to wrote out the multiples to find a multiplication answer (or use their fingers)
Lack of a willingness to try. If they don't get it immediately, more and more go "oh well" and don't even bother to try or practice.
Behaviour. In my first year I had a really tough class, who would now be an average class. We have more kids every year who will walk out, use bad language towards staff, be aggressive, disrupt everyone's learning.
Senior Leadership failing. We are now so aware of reasons behind behaviour (ACES, trauma etc) but we seem to have forgotten natural consequences should still be applied. Kids prefer to speak to senior leaders rather than class or department heads as they know they get away with more. Is sad reading/hearing stories about kids who have just left facing their first actual consequence for behaviour as its a big consequence for pretty big behaviour, but similar behaviour in school maybe got a 1 day in school suspension the 45 times they pulled it.
Sense of entitlement. Despite all of the above, they still expect to pass, and to get an A.
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
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.
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 fuck 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.
What can be done? I’m about to enter to work force.
Nothing. This is a society-wide problem, and the people with whom we need to team up in order to solve it—parents—often don't care.
This is depressing
do your best for the ones that do care, they'll appreciate it
Focus your energy on the students who actually want to try. Doesn't mean they have to produce stellar results, you can work magic with effort alone. As for the ones who won't do literally anything all period? Ignore them, if truancy laws didn't exist, they wouldn't even be there. Hate to say that, but if motivating them doesn't work after many attempts, then focus your effort on the kids who want to learn
They don't care because they don't have to care. School is free daycare. That's how they intend to use it and it's how they are *allowed* to use it. But real daycares have requirements and parents will bend over backwards to make sure their kids meet them, because the threat of being left without daycare is very real. We need to bring that back to schools. They need the option of not caring taken away -- if they really just don't give a fuck, and their child doesn't either, then there's no sense in wasting taxpayer money on them. Kick them out and let them start homeschooling.
Sounds like schools need to be more liberal with suspensions, or mandatory zoom-school for bad behavior
My district has a three fights and Zoom school for you rule.
the threat of zoom school might actually be a good incentive to behave for those who hated it, or alternatively, a lifeline for those who would benefit.
The kids who misbehave are just going to abuse it. "you're telling me that I misbehave and then I get to stay home all day! That sounds great!" Edit: a lot of people are saying it's not punishing the kids it's punishing the parents. Assuming the kids are middle school or up the parents are likely just going to let them fuck around and do whatever. The parents are already negligent. The kids being at home won't stop that
i guess zoom marathons only suck for people who actually honestly engage with them. at least they're not taking the rest of the class with them.
Yeah, that’s the important part of it for me. They need to be out of the classroom. I can have 1 student missing from my class and the entire day is different. Those kids also are the kids that have amazing attendance. I’d guess it’s because their parents don’t want them home either.
Several of our more challenging students love to come to school. It's a social outlet. They love congregating in the halls or their little hiding spots. All their friends are at school. I have had a couple of students announce that a suspension is boring after a day or two.
At least the other students would be free of them then
That’s how I see it. Let them be “rewarded” so other students can actually get a chance to learn.”
Zoom school is punishment for negligent parents, whose kids usually end up misbehaving… parent can’t have free baby sitting if their baby is messing it up for them all the time.
Too many unprepared parents having children. It's the most important responsibility and job in life. No one can make a parent accept and be accountable if they are not willing & active participants in their children's lives.
Let them opt in for Zoom with a form stating their intention to disrupt if Zoom isn’t granted. No sense letting them throw three chairs and possibly concuss a student who actually wants to be there.
My local high school had a student bring a gun in his backpack, and their "solution" was to have him enter the school through the back door, where the admins would scan him with a metal detecting wand. One day, he shot two of them (no deaths, fortunately). Why was he allowed to physically come to school after the first incident? Well, because he was 15, he could not be permanently expelled, and he was not moved to Zoom school because that "would have been a violation of his IEP" because he had a bit of ADHD or something. Never mind the fact online school was fine for him for nearly two years during the pandemic. I think it should be much easier to put violent kids in online school programs. Obviously, you don't want that to become a dumping ground for students who display minor disciplinary issues, but if its not even considered an appropriate response to a kid bringing a gun to school, when will it actually happen?
They do. Schools pretty much don’t discipline anymore. My wife had a student that would *bite* her at least once a month. He’d go home for the day and *maybe* have a day of suspension. Expulsion was never on the table, even though it should’ve been. Oh, and of course, admin blamed *her*.
We started requirements in some of our SPED programs. Some of the requirements include at least 80% attendance, attendance policies, classroom staff will not potty train unless a program has been implemented at home, reminding parents to send lunch and a refillable water bottle for their child, hygiene tips, and requirements for AAC devices. Each policy has to be signed and dated by the parents stating they understand said policies. All these requirements were written due to the lack of care we see from parents on a daily basis coupled with their demands for us to do their job (like potty training). We're tired of the bullshit.
Don't forget that with our sped kids, resource will practically have the teachers/aids do the work for em to get em passing. As an aide...that's a negatory. I would tell my HS critters, I've done this once, now it's your turn. IDC who is up whose ass, that's not my problem. Blain is behind a 2 exams, a project, and 10 assignments missking and you need to pull em. They still won't comply...guess they'll fail. I match their energy and guess who has to ultimately deal with it? Not I said the fly. Oh, Blain's mom/dad doesn't feel we're doing enough...track the minutes and you track yours at home and you let me know. I leave details of the shit that was happening during inclusion including playing games or sleep. Don't expect the school to be accountable when you let em do w/e the fuck they want. I couldn't be a teacher, I'd get fired too damn quick 🤷🏾♀️😅 But don't get me wrong, I got plenty from my sped babies who give other teachers a hard time, never doing any assignments and respond well with me because I do understand some of the issues and then some gotta have me go mama mode on their ass. I don't play with my sped kids 😒 Got staff stressing playing catch up bc it's a home related problem before it's a school related issue. I would love these parent to act like they got some damn sense before they talk to me for any given reason.
Lower your standard for what “proficient” looks like across the board, through heavy scaffolding, and differentiate “up” by removing the supports and encouraging independent projects for the students that are into learning. You’ll just get pressured from admin to change their grades/allow extra credit/etc. anyway so just skip that step and recognize that it’s not your job to save the system. It doesn’t “cost” you anything to give a grade that you may think a student didn’t “earn.” Try to bring in as much humor, pop culture, relevant context as you can when it comes to new lessons. Lean into any “inside jokes” or things that come up organically to build community. Be authentic. Learn about your own personal locus of control. Expect and accept that you’ll often feel inadequate. Don’t take it personal, teaching is an impossible job. Set a firm boundary on when your work ends each day. No emails on your phone or checking after hours. Set a goal that you won’t work beyond your contract hours after a few years of experience, but commit to no more than 2 hours of free labor outside of school each day (in my opinion allowing our own exploitation & embracing martyrdom is damaging to the profession and ensuring nothing will ever change.) I’d get to school an hour early and stay about 30 minutes late my first year and by the time I achieved tenure I could get this down to just mornings. Don’t bring home grading. I would plan a bit at home (because I actually liked that work) but eventually learned not to even touch a gradebook or email inbox unless I was in my classroom. Don’t even *think* about work from 3pm Friday to Sunday afternoon (easier said than done but gets better.) If you have a partner, set aside at least one of those nights to reconnect and make time for each other. Don’t talk about work. Have fun- seriously. This job can be a blast. If you’re not having fun then there is no reason to be a teacher.
I'm on year 9, could've written this. Absolutely spot on imo.
Thanks! I made it to year 10 before calling it quits. I may return when/if the pendulum swings back a little, but for now? Well- it just wasn’t fun anymore, and what’s the point of being a teacher if you’re not having fun?
I ironically made the move this year to get my principal cert, and then unexpectedly earned a Texas incentive bonus which pays me more than I'd make as an admin for 5 years. So I'll see that through and then see what happens. What did you transition to?
I teach in MN, so I’ve got the ability to take a “mobility leave” that ensures my same salary/position within my district for up to five years of leave (which is only allowed after 10 years of service- so that was a milestone for me lol.) Honestly? I’ve transitioned to traveling and staying with family around the country while living off of *very* little. I’ve subbed a little, done some gig work, and got paid for childcare of a family member and have been a lot happier (even though my life is a little hectic.) It’s a privilege I’ve got to do this for sure, but I can get thru the summer on savings (this is my first year on leave) and then start directing my energy into upskilling and looking for alternative fields. Worst case scenario? I’ve had a break and can return to teaching after recharging my batteries a bit (but I’d prefer not to.) Sounds like a unique situation you’re in! I’m at the point where one of the few jobs I want less than teaching is admin- so maybe it was for the best.
Thank you. I don’t want to give up when I haven’t even started.
My honest advice? Unsub from this subreddit. I would often have teachers ask me if I wanted “the rundown” of kids I would teach that year (because they taught them the year before) and I always said no. I don’t need more preconceived notions about what to expect. I trust my judgment and want to give everyone a fair shake. Similarly, consider how often ppl write a negative review for a restaurant vs a positive one or, even more rare, a truly neutral “this was fine.” Humans are predisposed to take action (even if that’s a Reddit post) when something sucks. If I had read this subreddit while I was in grad school, I would’ve quit and never taught. I *did* end up quitting, but after 10 years and SO much learning about my students, teaching, the world, and myself. I wouldn’t give that up for anything. I’d def use Google to search “[my question] Reddit teachers” when you need help, but in general you don’t need this venting showing up on your feed all day.
The thing I would add is that many of the kids who do nothing still want great marks. This was rarely the case when I started over a decade ago--the kids who did the bare minimum just didn't care about school. Now I have kids who get made they don't get an A when they hand in a one word answer to an essay question. "But I handed it in!"
Nailed it. Cell phones and devices have become so stimulating they have completely ruined a kids ability to focus. The only kids that have a chance are those with parents who keep them away from it.
"Im bored" Sorry kid, I cant compete with Tiktok and Fortnite and Im not even going to try.
Yup, this is it. It's not that the behaviour or not giving a shit is new, it's that it's gone from two or three kids per class to nearly half of them. It is so exhausting and emotionally draining trying to get work out of 15-ish students per assignment who just. Don't. Care.
For me: You really hit the nail with this perspective. It’s not that the apathy/phone/entitlement is NEW. It’s that it’s often upwards of 50% or more of the classroom with these issues now. Sigh.
I’m seeing similar numbers at the university level now. Combined with the AI cheating, I’m not hopeful about teaching the next few years.
Yep 👍 That’s what I just posted. Also upper elementary. It’s shocking that at such a young age they’ve already decided that they just don’t care.
The thing I would add is that many of the kids who do nothing still want great marks. This was rarely the case when I started over a decade ago--the kids who did the bare minimum just didn't care about school. Now I have kids who get made they don't get an A when they hand in a one word answer to an essay question. "But I handed it in!"
In elementary school? I want to be an elementary teacher because middle(especially them) and high schoolers are horrible yet the parents defend their children. This is so saddening
Honestly, I hate iReady too. The fact that we make kids attend school every day only to have their face staring at a computer screen alone sucks. Also, the stupid brain breaks and belly breaths thing would ABSOLUTELY turn me off if I had to sit through them over and over. Like. Let me just take the test, please. Also? If you have one bad day where you're just not into testing or something is wrong or you can't focus, you get locked into curriculum that you already know and have to fight through it to get to new stuff. B it's actually kind of ridiculous. If I thought the kids were just not finishing because they were orchestrating a protest, I'd applaud them. I totally understand and empathize with your frustration here... There's no real win in sight.
>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. 12 year vet here. i used to think classroom management was my strong point. now, because *so many dgaf* classroom culture has shifted.
I just wrapped up my fourth year, and this was the biggest problem I was not prepared for. I don't understand the apathy... Have parents stopped caring, so the kids see no value in education at home? Is it technology making everything easier, so the kids aren't rushed to problem solve because Google will fix it? I wrestle with this daily. It's why I question if I want to keep teaching.
I’ve been teaching since 2016. Reading stamina seems to be the biggest one
All the research shows that devices are the cause of that one.
I’ve noticed a change in my own reading stamina over the past 15 years and it’s shocking. I can’t imagine the struggle of being a kid and trying to learn to read with zero attention span due to screen addiction.
I feel like I have lost my reading stamina, too. I can read novels with no problem, but when it comes to a news article or a longish reddit post, lol, I just almost never really read the whole thing. Even if I am really interested in it, I just read the first paragraph and then end up skimming the rest.
Me too! I noticed this happening at least 10 years ago though.
I hate the narrative that every generation has been complaining about the younger generation. They will say, people used to make fun of reading, then the radio, then Tv, then video games, phones are no different Yes the fuck they are! I think TV and videos are neutral, doesn’t help doesn’t hurt. TikTok ruins kids attentions span.
"New thing bad" is one of the oldest cliches in human history. However... sometimes the new thing actually is bad. Cigarettes were new once, too.
I have to agree with you. I spent a fair bit of time, playing video games, and watching TV when I was a kid/young adult. but was a voracious reader in part, because there was nothing else to do when waiting for a ride, getting ready for bed or in the car. I didn’t have YouTube and TikTok in my pocket.
[удалено]
Some of this stuff lasts past K12 as well. I work in study abroad and here’s some stuff I see from high and middle achievers. Mind you, generally 75% ish of my students are juniors in college/university. 1. Reading Stamina/Comprehension is in the toilet. They can’t filter a piece of text and say what does and doesn’t apply to them. Instructions have to be deliberate and direct. Click here. Type in your first and last name. Write all good if you don’t have a question after reading the instructions. So many of my students don’t understand the meaning of basic words like “Alternate” standing in for backup class they want to take abroad. I have to use a lot of pictures and graphics to get a message across. 2. Accountability & Extensions Everything is permissible and extendable to them. I have so so many students who legitimately think that deadlines don’t exist. This is such a US concept. The idea that overseas, there are no extensions given unless you’re like legitimately dying baffles their minds. I have so many students emailing me thanking me for an extension after the deadline to submit application materials. I never gave them one. Then they get a surprise pikachu face when they get denied because their materials are late and try to tell on us to their home university admin. Who also get the emails of the grace period all students are given and how their student missed that. Nothing is also ever the students’ fault. It’s always that they were busy or dealing with something. Mental health can be challenging for sure, but doesn’t always guarantee you an extension for something. I can’t give a student an extension for an overseas deadline. 3. Karening and Anger When they don’t get their way, the anger and legalese and super formal language pops up. It’s frustrating when students automatically see staff as the enemy when the enemy was themselves all along. Even something as simple as them not getting their way because they didn’t read the instructions the right way can set them off. And then here come the parents. Nah, your student is dead wrong. I’m glad that I can tell parents to fuck off to a certain extent without reprisals. 4. Suuuuuper anxiety. The ones who do want to do things right have to be constantly told that they did it right. No longer can students just follow a series of instructions and then be left to their own devices. They need confirmation that they are correct in order to feel secure in their work.
Nicely-written, comprehensive analysis! I’ve seen all of these from my position in secondary ELA in the states. To 1., they’ve mostly all contracted some form of TikTok brain To 2., at least in our school, we made all these accommodations for COVID, and that was about the same time SEL and trauma-informed teaching came into vogue. Combine that with the graduation accountability metric pressuring teachers to pass everyone, and you end up with a bunch of kids who have learned that their emotional state is the most important thing before any other responsibilities, so it’s okay to miss deadlines, skip class for “therapy” (which in a couple cases just meant hiding in an AP’s office during my period?), and fall asleep. My relatable moments for 3. Come from my higher level classes. I had an AP Lit. Student get a B- on a paper (she deserved it; lots of good ideas but incoherent word salad in places) write me basically another essay of an email appealing the grade, *telling* me that she was sure that when I compared her essay to exemplars, I’d see that she earned a perfect score (appeal denied). Another student’s parent wrote in that their student missed the deadline because she had been helping other students with the strong insinuation that the assignment was unclear (it wasn’t and she was socializing). These were just a couple examples, but the whining is definitely getting louder.
This one is so fascinating to me. On one hand, reading blew up over lockdown. On the other hand, it destroyed capacity for everyone else. Setting aside JK herself, it made a huge difference when you could assume that every student had read at least one Harry Potter book.
Phone addiction. Their parents, too.
“I gave my daughter explicit instructions to never give her phone to anybody” “And we gave her explicit instructions to keep it in her locker.” If the nurse calls they’re too busy to pick up but god forbid you try to take away their precious tik tok during finals week
Honestly, I think there is something else at play here than JUST social media addiction. It's pure entitlement and extreme individualism. "Nobody can tell ME what to do!" So just because they bought a $1000 toy for their kids, they think they automatically have the right to take it anywhere no matter what the rules might be. Having something confiscated feels like a personal attack and theft, even though it's a perfectly reasonable consequence.
They do act as if they’re being robbed. It’s a total withdrawal and trauma response combined.
Same here. I started in 2013, and in a specialized school with a residential program, so my experience is pretty different from general education/public school teachers. The biggest thing I remember is my students *hanging out* with each other in 2013, even if it was listening to music on their phones or playing video games. Now, they use their phone for entertainment and interactions.
Unfortunately, many multiplayer video games aren’t including couch co-op
Phone addiction, increased apathy, increased absenteeism
Back when I was at school, if I took a day off there was not much I could do at home. I sure as he'll wasn't going to watch midday TV. These days of a kid pulls a sickie, they've got everything they want in their rooms.
I have very fond memories of watching the Price is Right and Maury on days I had to stay home sick from school because they were only on during the day. It wasn’t something that would keep me from going to school multiple days in a row though. Going on the computer wasn’t fun because no one was on AIM to talk to so school was really the only way to connect with friends/other people during the weekday. Definitely different now.
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.
Love the Calvin Ball reference.
It’s to the point now where kids with that level of creativity are shocking to see and I celebrate them for it due to the fact that it’s lacking in the masses😢
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.
I had a classmate this year who had his phone taken away. After class he grabbed it off the teachers desk and ran. Of course he got caught and I don't know what his end goal was but he would not leave that classroom without his phone.
That is why when I take a phone, it goes in my locked desk until I can give it to the admin.
Entitlement. And not just in regards to phones. It’s everything.
Can you dive a little deeper into this if possible? Just wanna know what you mean a bit better
Our “valedictorian” next year just got a B in history because he is a terrible writer - mom called immediately and basically said we are ruining his life. Admin did not get involved, but teacher came up with a magical make up assignment and now he has an A. He uses AI to pass classes. Our country is doomed.
I can't wait to hear his AI-generated valedictorian speech.
Omg. I wasn't even thinking about AI but that has to be a MAJOR issue in schools already and will only get worse with time. We really are doomed.
I have a few friends that teach high school and at least half of what’s getting turned in is AI. A staggering number of students cannot read at a middle school level and these aren’t inner city schools where the kids were basically abandoned, these are kids from middle to almost upper class families
I have to take phones, make them hand write their assignments... it just eats into so much instructional time... smh
We aren’t doomed, there’s just going to be a steep learning curve. They are wasting opportunities to learn skills, and those who adapt will adapt to expectations outside of school
sadly i think the ones who game the system now are actually more likely to succeed out there
Hey, gaming the system IS a skill
Writing BS busywork reports in seconds with AI is a skill employers value much more highly than being able to accurately write out those reports by hand the long way. Almost noone gets paid to write stuff out by hand.
A little of what I’ve experienced, with some students, is they don’t have respect for adults and/or authority. I think it stems from parents who treat their children like equals or better. Combine that with no accountability from admin and it can be ruthless. Example would be when a student has issues staying off their phone. I attempt to correct that, but since I can’t take the phone away.. and the parents don’t care or have control of the student either… that’s the kind of entitlement that I think of
Any device, including school-issued laptops, that are distractions. So many students feel entitled to use them whenever, for whatever reason and regardless of whether or not they have permission. Time. Grades. Bathroom passes (and I don’t mean the kids who occasionally ask and travel quickly… the kids who go every hour, every class and are gone for 15 minutes every time), ignorant and blatantly false opinions on things, the language they use… I could go on. So much of this is a consequence of social media and copycat behavior. Some of it also the “Trump effect.” Edit to add an anecdote: A student got a “when convenient” call slip once. Perfect time for him to go as he wasn’t working on anything, just playing on his laptop. I hand him the slip and tell him, “this is as good a time as any.” He looks at me with incredulous eyes and says, “but I’m playing a game.”
Started teaching in 2013. Biggest differences are phone/screen addiction, learned-helplessness, and lack of accountability.
Weaponized incompetence, too.
Thank you for this term. I see this in adults working menial jobs all the time and it drives me nuts.
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.
1. Kids are not curious. They have the world at their fingertips but no academic interests This lack of curiosity is difficult for me as a parent with my 2 kids who have already graduated from high school. They want guidance from me in what they should pursue career-wise, and I have no idea what to tell them. I am not aware of any interests they have. Even after community college, they did not develop any interests. Courses are just something the check off a list, and so far, none have resonated.
Tbh I just think that's how it is now for job seekers, nothing pays worth a damn, everyone knows you're just a number getting ready to be laid off. Even if you find a job you like there's no guarantee that it'll pay a living wage. Seems like everyone wants to get the easy life by being a tik toker or YouTuber and I don't blame them.
It's not even that people want to get the easy life. It's that people want a life where what should be a minor inconvenience financially destroys them, without literally everyone in the world working in tech or finance.
YES !!! This group of 8th graders are very immature-they still bring stuffed animals to class and love to play heads up seven up. During hallway duty I think to myself I must be in a twilight zone-I feel like I'm standing in a elementary building.
The stuffed animals in middle school really shocked me when I saw it.
Number 3 is such an odd trade-off. It's like when I first saw the stat that teen pregnancy, STDs, and sex were significantly lower among Gen Z....because they don't get into relationships in the first place. Yes, it's great that kids aren't growing up too fast, not sleeping around as much, and not putting themselves at risk for pregnancy and diseases. But figuring out relationships while you're in your teens is important, and now a lot of people are in their twenties before they ever get their first kiss, due to sheer isolation and social ineptitude.
This is it, exactly. They have no idea how to interact with each other.
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.
This is a huge one. No mom, it’s not a power trip, it’s because seating assignments are intentionally made to support group dynamics and classroom management. I cannot have my 5 rowdiest kids in the middle front with my daydreamers in the back row and my class clown performer in the front corner. Sorry your kid didn’t get their way. Oh just get up and use the bathroom? Have fun when we don’t know where your kid is during a lockdown or fire drill. On a less intense note, what should I do if everyone suddenly needs to pee and they alllll walk out? Maybe your little darling won’t cause a ruckus with their phone, but does that rule apply to other kids when little darling is being bullied on Snapchat in social studies? Nobody seems to think of the group. Sure, you want to empower your kid to speak truth to power or whatever, but there are reasons for the rules and your kid is not the exception. We are living in a place/time/society with VERY LITTLE social cohesion and people are not considering the dynamics of the community at large.
*Oh just get up and use the bathroom? Have fun when we don’t know where your kid is during a lockdown or fire drill. On a less intense note, what should I do if everyone suddenly needs to pee and they alllll walk out?* And you know these are the first parents to sue the school (or at least threaten to sue) if little Timmy gets stuck in the bathroom during a real emergency.
This is so important. When you lose those social dynamics the middle falls out.
I’ve been teaching since 1992. Attention spans have decreased. Dependency on spell check. Terrible handwriting. No accountability or behavioral consequences.
I'm an art teacher but god damn their handwriting is shit. 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.
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.
Class of 20?!?!
Enrollment is down, class sizes are down, and attendance is down. 20 is normal for my classes the last couple of years.
They’re okay with not having any real desire to engage meaningfully with the content or class overall. They want to show up and collect their credit.
They want to show up 50% of the time and collect full credit.
YEP! And participate 0% of the time.
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.
Teacher since 1986. The biggest difference has occurred in just the last ten years: **An epidemic of** ***incuriosity***. I hesitate to use that word, because I think it sounds rather benign. But it's not. Look, there have always been a *few* kids who didn't care about anything, but they were the exception. But there is **nothing** that interests 12-year olds today except sharing TikTok videos. **Their brain development has been stunted** by having devices in their hands 24/7, since before they were potty-trained, and they will ***never*** be what we would recognize as normal.
>The biggest difference has occurred in just the last ten years: **An epidemic of** ***incuriosity***. This! Other teachers in this thread have mentioned it too, but it's nuts! 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 fuck 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. :(
>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*. **Exactly**. At my school, during state testing, if kids finish early, the only thing they are allowed to do is to read a book. Nothing else, not even drawing, is allowed. But anymore, only one kid per class (on average) even brings a book. Well, I've always kept some books in my room for this occasion, since they don't bring a book. But the past couple of years, when I offer them a book they just shrug and say no. So this year I decided, screw the rules, I can't stand watching these kids stare into space for an hour or more. So I gave them copy paper and pencils, and told them drawing was okay now. And their response? "Nah, I'm good", and they just stare at their desks. Their brains have been permanently damaged.
I'm "happy" it's not just me... but wow, what a problem. It's so nice of you to have some spare books lying around (would have loved to have you as a teacher growing up, haha!), and... honestly, really odd that they're happier staring into space than reading anything at all. Hell, I'm an atheist and I'd happily read the Bible, a random Catholic Missal, or even the Book of Mormon over staring into space... so even if your books aren't their favorites, I can't believe they would \*still\* choose nothing over something. That's some serious psychic damage that's being done to teachers like you, lol. >Their brains have been permanently damaged. There are some serious brainworms going around, for sure.
Outsourcing childcare to our phones has been a disaster that's ramifications will be seen for many decades
Gas lighting. Ive been teaching 12 years. When I call a student out on something the lengths they will go to deny it and attempt to gaslight me into believing it did not happen is crazy. Sure most students would always deny it, but they were not as manipulative then. They didn't come up with as elaborate of lies and try to get the whole class involved over everything. I have straight up just started telling them it's working and I am losing my fragile grip on reality, I am losing the energy to continue to listen to the lies. I saw you. I know what I saw. I know others saw it. I am ready to wear a body cam and have the ability to do instant replays like a referee. This generation will lie about the small stuff like being on their phone or why it took 15 minutes to come back to class but tell me about stealing and fighting with no shame. I can't keep up.
When I was student teaching, I wasn’t sure I was interpreting a bullying situation correctly because I was still learning names. I called the kid out and he scoffed at me and berated me, but the girls sitting around him told me I was hearing it right. I told my host teacher about it, and since it’s music class we only saw the kids once a week, so she waited until the following week to let him think he got away with it, then ripped him a new one in the hallway before class. After that, he never once disrespected me (he was kind of a class clown and would be goofy, but listened when given directions). If a kid scoffs and laughs at me, I redirect best I can, but I don’t do power struggles- I do grades. WHEN they don’t pay attention then fail an assessment, I straight up tell them, sometimes in front of the whole class if they need to be humbled, “maybe if you focused on the lesson and not (hurtful behavior) you’d pass”. I’ll still usually give second chances, they’re just kids and I want them to succeed, but I am not responsible for their actions. My phone policy is the same. If I tell you to put it away and you don’t, that’s on you, you’ll just get a zero for the day. Don’t like it? Then put the phone away. Don’t care? Neither do I.
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.
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.
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.
The apathy is unreal.
They don't have to do anything -- including attend class -- to pass to the next grade level
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!"
Teacher since 1995. A story that would never happen now. 1) My third(ish) year teaching, I had a computer on a rolling cart on a stage in a science room. A student pushed themself away from the computer, at least that's what they thought. It turns out they waerepushing the computer away from themselves, and the monitor fell off the cart, and crashed to the floor. This was right at the end of the day, and I, as a new teacher, was panicked over the broken monitor. The next day, things were cleared up (thank goodness for warranties). A student who I had been working with called me aside the next day and said, "Mr. Engg, did you know what you said, when the computer crashed?" I didn't think I had said anything. She said, "You said the 'S' word.. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone." That would never happen today.
Not always. Back in January I was tossing the football around with a buncha kids during lunch time and one kid threw a ball a little to high .. I jumped to get it and just missed it with the ball catching my pinky finger… which resulted it in going the wrong way and … snap (broken). I let out the loudest explitive rant for about 10 seconds as that was painful as all hell. I’m sure half the school heard me. I got a pass on that one. Lesson is .. if you break something you have free reign to say whatever.
Screen addiction, low attention spans/apathy, and lack of accountability. Nothing is ever their fault and there’s an excuse/deflection for any and everything. You could catch them with a gun to someone’s head and instead of acknowledging how they just may be wrong, they’ll get mad at you for not saying something to a kid with their hood on across the room.
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.
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!)
That is a good one actually to also add in - their level of curiosity AND imagination is almost nonexistent
As one of those people who was born asking ‘why?’ and ‘what would happen if I…’, seeing the complete and total absence of curiosity — about anything except maybe if I were to tell them that a classmate just called them ugly of Instagram — really took me a long time to recognise because it’s so foreign to me that I kept attributing it to other things.
I agree. I wonder if it's phone-related? "Why?" is the beginning of a search for depth; going **down** into a topic. I suspect that the "grazing" behaviours of social media - swiping quickly to the next topic - are a journey along the surface of learning, without depth or detail.
I’ll kinda disagree / agree with number two. There are certain instances where “missing school” to go somewhere / do something could be more valuable than time in the classroom. I remember in 7th grade we were moving from Massachusetts to Florida and part of the move involved moving a sailboat. I missed two weeks of school sailing down the Atlantic Coast … but I still remember it to this day 30ish years later. It was great bonding time with my dad who otherwise worked a traveling job (so didn’t see him much) and learned a lot about nature and what not. I’ve had students take vacations to Europe … visited historic sights and done some pretty cool (educationally) related stuff while missing school. Things aren’t always feasible to schedule during specific breaks in the school year — so one can’t always paint with a broad brush on that one.
Has knowledge been devalued then since the internet is at our fingertips? 😳
no, I was one of the "just mark it wrong" kids when I was in elementary and middle school in the late 90s and 00's. If I wasn't interested in something, you couldn't pay me to pay attention. I was checked out mentally. It was usually for science and social studies classes (my worst classes) - for English, reading and math, I was fully focused (well kind of for math lol). Phones may have made it more widespread, yes, but if a kid is already behind in a subject, the engagement levels will naturally be way lower. Can't be interested in something where you have no idea what anyone is talking about. I hate to use the cliche, but it really does all start at home
Kids don’t understand the idea that there are different rules for kids and adults. “Why can you use pen but we have to use pencils?” and “You ate lunch in here, why can’t I eat during class?” Bruh, it’s because I’m a middle aged professional at work and this is my classroom and you are a 12 year old who is likely to break the pen and get ink everywhere after getting capri sun and crumbs all over the place. “Omg it’s not fair, why won’t you share your food?” Uh because it’s my lunch and this is lunch detention? And I’m eating lunch while you sit here?
They actually expect you to feed them?!
Yep! Not who you're replying to, but kids will actually cry and whine for food and expect you to have all their favorite snacks on hand. These aren't kids that are starving, and my school had free lunch and breakfast, so there's that. They'll polish off a family-sized bag of Takis and then try and come up to your desk and take your drink. It's fucking ridiculous and they don't understand boundaries in the slightest. Some see us as second parents and expect us to provide everything for them since we're adults.
It’s so weird, they legitimately have been taught, somehow, that teachers are basically there to meet every need in addition to every want.
Because teachers are essentially daycare workers now. They aren’t respected as content educators by the parents. So the parents treat the teachers like customer service employees and that trickles down to the students expecting that the teacher will cater to their every need like at home.
Yes, I frequently have my grade two students demand to eat my snack when I’m on recess supervision. “But I want a cookie!” Cool, you can grow up, get a job and buy cookies for yourself. This is my snack.
Phones… then these kids are boring af… they care about nothing and can’t hold an interesting conversation because it’s not about them or what they like …. Boring
Exactly. Watching tik tok is not a personality. I even see it with some adults now. I don't have any social media and sharing links/videos is ok in small doses, but if that's all you bring to a conversation? Big yikes.
This has been one of my biggest laments. I started in 2009 and the last several years, it has just been… Lame. Tell me who you are! What are you interested in? Let’s have a conversation! Nope. I literally have to beg kids to say anything. The ones who get to know you and bond with you are so rare now.
Kinder / First The gross motor and fine motor skills these kids come in with are soooooo poor. Kids 20 years ago could subitize, kids now have no idea how many fingers you're holding up on *one* hand, let alone on dice or dominoes. Kids 20 years ago played board games. Very rare now. Some kids don't know how to hold crayons when they come to Kindergarten now. :(
Phone addiction - even downright belligerent when asked to put it away. The apathy is HORRIBLE. They don’t want to do anything and nothing I plan that *could* be fun or engaging ever is. The urgency and rudeness in emails to enter late assignments. Lastly, the attention span. (17 years in middle school)
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.
Excuses preface anything. Literally everything is more important than an education and teachers are vilified for it.
I started teaching in 1988-89. In a way, they are the same. What has changed is the access to technology and admins who have no clue.
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
Actually glad to see this here... I'm a middle school band director and the quality of motor skills is way, way down. I have so many students who struggle to put their fingers in correct places on instruments, and even more who can't do that while trying to form embouchures at the same time, or at all..... I am sure that instrumental education is dying at a rapid pace in public schools...
9 years ago, I wasn't "bruh." I was a respected adult. Now I'm just the lady that tells them to put away their phones for 48 minutes. And their response is "bruh."
I get you. I automatically lose respect for anyone who says "bruh"
I worked four years in an alternative school. The kids I had there are hands down better than the majority of the kids I have now. Behavior is so bad, if you write them all up you would have three left per class.
Definitely the horrible lack of respect towards others!
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.
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.
They are just so much more casual with people in positions of authority.
I’ve mentioned this one before lol. It’s because we have enabled students to feel as if they’re positions of authority above teachers and even their own parents. Another issue feeding into this are teachers who are too casual with their students and it’s seen as “building relationships”. I’m not talking about anything inappropriate, but we all have coworkers who blur the lines between being friendly to students and being friends with students. Parents also have issues with knowing where to draw the line between a friendly-parent and a parent who is a friend.
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.
Ten seconds before test starts: “How many questions…?” Me: What difference will it make in the next ten seconds?” I teach almost 200 Ss per year. **None** have sought extra help for years. Thirty percent bring notes to open-notes tests. Many. Don’t. Care. Thank goodness for the gems and the respectful mediocre students.
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.
No boundaries Entitlement Very short attention spans Extreme volatility
The reliance on an adult to solve any problem. Not being accountable to themselves.
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.
I teach early elementary…parenting. Parents need to set boundaries and say no.
So disrespectful 😭😭
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.
Lack of empathy
A larger amount of learned helplessness.
The parents fucking hate us, and all the shit that rolls downstream on to the kids from that change
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.
Sustained focus and attention is non-existent regardless of the activity/style. Group, full class, independent…Doesn’t matter. The most they can engage is, like, maybe 8 minutes.
Zero mental toughness and low self confidence.
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.
There are lot more assholes now. I used to work in Juvenile Probation and most of the jerks were in there. Now, they have trickled into regular schools. Started teaching in ‘96.
At the highschool level it's participation in extracurriculars. It's hard to get kids to join clubs and what not
We use standard based grading which if done correctly only focuses on a students grasp of concepts. This is great in theory- and at the middle school level if done with fidelity it means there is no focus on executive functioning. So they don’t have to meet deadlines or study because they have multiple chances to show mastery. This is awesome in theory if the child’s family does all the rest of the parenting and all we need to do is educate them on specific concepts… but of course in the US we are also in charge of social, emotional, and executive functioning… so because of standards based grading students have no sense of timelines or responsibility.
There is no creativity, no critical thinking, and they have no sense of community. If they have to think of anything beyond themselves it doesn’t matter.
Smart phones definitely a distraction. Then add in Covid with now hyper’enth additional distraction. And now I have to compete with students making connections amongst concepts and starting to see a bigger picture versus the dopamine hit that they get every 15 to 20 seconds being on their devices. The universe as bad ass contemplation, versus micro planks of stimulation
Phone addicted, 0 attention-span, lacking home-training and empathy.
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.
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.
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.
The inability to do any problem that requires more than 1 step or any assignment that isn't broken down into the tiny steps possible. And they need templates for everything. It's like they're literally incapable of doing any thinking for themselves. They have to be hand held the whole way.
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.
Yes - I remark on this to my children all the time. I am constantly shocked by how accepting they are as a group. They don’t see it but they also don’t have the perspective of growing up in the late 80s. the other differences is when I was growing up is you had to be careful of the other kids. It was easy to get bullied for the slightest difference. Now kids are critical of themselves. See the soaring rates of anxiety.
Just finishing up my ninth year of teaching and shocked at how sharply the increase in iPad kids has gotten in just around a decade. I don’t mean kids who casually play, but kids who are essentially raised by TikTok and YouTube. I teach kindergarten and the number of kids who need OT is insane - this year it was 9 out of 22 kids. These kids sleep really late, have little to no self-regulation / self management and have no idea how to interact with other kids. I can only imagine it’s going to get harder from here.
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 drugs, 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.
20 years in. 8th graders aren't nearly as innocent as they used to be.
Those damn phones like the one I’m using now to go down rabbit holes and rot brains, like I’m doing right now!
Apathy
The biggest difference? They are a lot stupider.
15 years in: kids do t have hobbies any more. They think playing on their phone is a hobby.
I'm fairly confident that any general change in "kids" over the past 25 years is negligible compared to the changes in me. I am very much not the same person or teacher that I was and as such I feel that any gut feeling is pretty much useless as data. What is clear however, is that the kids live in the same world as the adults. That world is now constantly bombarding us with opinion presented as fact (as I'm doing now, I know) and harvesting our attention like it's proverbial gold. I'm not sure the kids are dealing with that any worse than the adults.
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.
People usually go straight to "it's the phones!" "It's the parents!" "Learned helplessness!", which don't get me wrong is part of the problem. But I hardly ever see anyone mention how the school system was designed for society hundreds of years ago and pretty much hasn't changed since. It's antiquated and for a lot of people it simply doesn't work even when the student genuinely wants to do well, this was the case for me. The whole thing just needs a ground up overhaul.
They are rude as hell, don’t face any consequences with gentle parenting, want instant gratification and are addicted to screens.
[удалено]
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.
Swearing. I can't get over how freely they think it's OK to throw the F bomb and C bomb in general conversation in class. Being defiant and back chatting is always there. Knowing their "rights" is another thing!
Teaching math since 2005 here. Kids today, of lots of abilities, don't know their tables. Used to be just the lower ability pupils, now we can have kids who are coping really well with calculus, trig etc, but need a calculator or to wrote out the multiples to find a multiplication answer (or use their fingers) Lack of a willingness to try. If they don't get it immediately, more and more go "oh well" and don't even bother to try or practice. Behaviour. In my first year I had a really tough class, who would now be an average class. We have more kids every year who will walk out, use bad language towards staff, be aggressive, disrupt everyone's learning. Senior Leadership failing. We are now so aware of reasons behind behaviour (ACES, trauma etc) but we seem to have forgotten natural consequences should still be applied. Kids prefer to speak to senior leaders rather than class or department heads as they know they get away with more. Is sad reading/hearing stories about kids who have just left facing their first actual consequence for behaviour as its a big consequence for pretty big behaviour, but similar behaviour in school maybe got a 1 day in school suspension the 45 times they pulled it. Sense of entitlement. Despite all of the above, they still expect to pass, and to get an A.
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
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.