We are worse than babysitters. At least they get the children to behave.

I never thought I'd say this, but I now take back my years of defending my job against the accusation that teaching is "just babysitting." <br><br>I babysat as a kid and have seen many teenagers babysit when they're younger. The kids may do what they want at times and have occasional meltdowns, but they tend to listen to the person in charge at the same time.<br><br>I'm a high school English teacher. I feel like I'm failing more and more as the years pass. I honestly don't know what to do.<br><br>Parents started sending their kids to school in-person again a few weeks ago. Since then, it's been chaos.<br><br>It is absolutely exhausting trying to get my students to behave and to care about their schoolwork. I've never had such a difficult time reaching my students. They talk over me nonstop, interrupt me while I'm talking, never hand in assignments, and have no interest in participating. I've tried bribing them with snacks, privileges, and higher grades. Nothing works anymore. I'm at a loss.<br><br>I'm getting tired of parents saying, "Teenagers will be teenagers." No, this is something new. It's hard to describe, but there is a new level of indifference (not even apathy, because apathy would be caring to some extent) that I have never seen in the classroom.<br><br>The parents don't seem to notice or care. They will rarely even respond to emails. I send them reports letting them know what their child is missing, and it's met with silence.<br><br>I'm starting to wonder if I should just give up.