The kids are the best part... but after two years, I'm out

I've always been passionate about my subject. After high school, I spent years playing in a band and attending concerts and festivals. When COVID hit and music stopped, I decided I'd been selfish long enough and would give back<br>by becoming a teacher. I pursued an ACP (alternative certification program) and landed a position at a school with a bunch of veteran teachers who saw me through the struggles of my first year. This year, things got a little easier, and I even got to take a couple of chaperoned trips with the school's music club that I started. <br><br>The kids are the best part. Still, after two years, I am officially done with teaching.<br><br>The days where I can't get the kids to be quiet are hard. The days where the kids are too rowdy and I have to scream at them to settle down are harder. And the days when they've had it with my "no talking in class" and they give me the finger or call me a bitch under their breath because I took their homework? Yeah, days like that make me feel like shit. Still, I can tolerate all this, and if that was all the job was, I would be fine with it. I was a musician, and this is not the first time I've been disrespected or treated poorly for my profession.<br><br>The nights where I grade papers until midnight are hard. The weekends where I rewrite my lesson plans for 8 hours because the kids didn't respond to them are harder. And the summers where I have to pay out of pocket for certification classes and professional development are the hardest. Yeah, the weekends, nights, and summer days of grading and lesson planning make me feel like shit. I already felt underpaid for a job that requires a master's degree, but god forbid I have my weekends or a summer break. And of course, there's the out and out disrespect from parents who assume I'm sitting on my thumbs all day when the real work starts at 3:00PM when they pick up their kids.<br><br>Respect from parents? Forget it. Many parents think teachers are lazy, do fuck all, or abuse children. I don't know how this became the public's general perception of teachers, but I've had multiple experiences like this in my short time as a teacher. Still, I can deal with this disrespect. I was a musician, and this is not the first time I've been disrespected for my profession.<br><br>What I cannot deal with is the monumental changes in our students' behavior over the past decade and the near-total lack of support we get for dealing with it. When I was in school 20 years ago, there was one kid in my grade with severe behavioral problems that required an aide. There are two classes of students in front of me right now, and both of them have a student with severe behavioral problems who, for reasons I cannot understand, do not have aides. When I was in school, you got sent to the principal for talking out of turn, let alone being violent or abusive. Now, a kid who shits on the floor gets sent back to class with a verbal warning.<br><br>When I was in school 20 years ago, I never had a teacher threaten to quit. Now, I hear that threat from a different teacher almost every week. I don't think this is a case of seasoned teachers talking shit about the new generation. I think this is a case of the system breaking down so badly that even the veteran teachers who have seen it all are saying, "Time to get out."<br><br>I can't tolerate the disrespect from students and parents. I can't tolerate the Sisyphean workload. But what's finally driven me out is that I refuse to tolerate the system's utter failure to support students and teachers as violent and abusive behaviors have become the norm. You would never believe what kids say and do. You would never believe what parents consider "normative" behavior these days. If you have kids, you may notice it. If you have younger siblings, you may notice it. And if you're a teacher, you fucking live it. <br><br>I have officially quit the profession. I'm heartbroken that I won't be able to teach these kids anymore, but fuck this job.