This is a message for people who are thinking of becoming a teacher...

You guys, it's time to take your heads out of the sand. Being a teacher in the United States is not a sustainable career. You will not be able to financially support yourself and pay off your student loans at the same time. You will never be able to retire. You will work over 60 hours a week, including on the weekends and sometimes at night. You will constantly feel emotionally beat up and exhausted. You will be blamed for the fact that parents do not parent their children. You will be under a tremendous amount of stress and you will have no one to talk to about it. You will have to deal with students who will get in trouble just for the hell of it and who sometimes may even threaten you. You will have to constantly show that you are doing your job even though everyone automatically assumes that you are not. You will be disrespected by students, parents, and the community, and you will not receive any support from your administration. You will have to teach students who cannot read or do simple math, even though they have already failed your class multiple times. You will have to be a babysitter, a drill sergeant, a therapist, a counselor, a social worker, a mentor, and a surrogate parent. You will not be able to keep any materials in your classroom because students will constantly steal and destroy your things. You will have to pay out of pocket for anything that you bring to school to try to educate these uncared for children. You will be considered a failure if your students do not pass the standardized tests, even if they don't speak a word of English or are handicapped. No one will care about you or your well-being. No one will support you or give you anything to help you with your classroom. You will be completely on your own. <br><br>Welcome to education.<br><br>Edit:<br><br>Wow, this blew up. I am overwhelmed by the amount of responses. Thank you to everyone who has commented and shared their stories. It is sad to hear that so many of us are going through the same thing. We are not alone in our struggles. <br><br>Also, I am not saying that all students/parents/administrations are bad. There are a few good ones. But those are not the ones you will remember because it's the bad ones who ruin your job.