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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
"Getting paid to raise your kids."
With school starting today, all of my teacher friends are out in full force on facebook. I have seen a few people with some sort of status related to "another year of getting paid to raise your kids".
Now, I am not a parent but for some reason this really bugs me. Do you think that teachers really raise your kids? I admire what teachers do and I know its a hard job but I think assuming that you are "raising" peoples kids is a bit presumptuous.
Thoughts???
Re: "Getting paid to raise your kids."
this.
Don't even get me started on the teacher martyrdom...
Necessary disclaimer: I don't mean that about ALL teachers, but it seems to be a recent trend. And yes, I know how hard most teachers work, as my mother has been one for over 25 years.
I don't think I would ever say that out loud. But there is more and more teaching behaviors, morals, manners, etc. that is having to go on in school.
I agree with this. I realize that teachers work long, hard crappy hours for little pay and even less acknowledgement for what they do. And I realize that there are lots of instances where that statement is true, which is really sad. But there are also lots of instances where that's not true.
Nobody forces anyone to be a teacher and I think it's incredibly rude and in poor judgement for a teacher to say something like that, especially on FB. If you hate it so much, find something else to do.
My mom was one of the biggest teacher martyrs ever. She chose to teach, she chose to be at the school hours more than need be, she chose to do massive amounts of homework. And then she got the summer off. Blech.
I realize that teaching is hard and isn't for everyone, but teachers knew the drill when they decided to do it.
So Tasty, So Yummy
Yeah, I agree with this.
Teachers are underpaid and under appreciated. Recent political winds have made them an enemy of the state. It's wrong and unfair. Teachering should be one of the most respected professions in the world, in any culture/society.
However, having a bad attitude about being a teacher sounds like your heart really sin't in it. I have several teacher friends on FB, too, and none of them are making comments like that. I think it's uncalled for and lacks self respect.
I think this is my issue. I would hate to have someone teaching my kids who clearly thinks this way. And if raising kids is as easy as sending them to school then damn I think I should just go ahead and have one now! :-|
Agree with this and Kimmer's/Tara's posts.
If you focus on the negative aspect of any job you can find lots of things to hate and people to blame for it. If you hate it so much, respect yourself enough to go find a job you do like.
Besides, for all those parents who make sacrifices in their own careers by passing up promotions and making less pay in their own jobs or even choosing to be a stay-at-home parent instead of pursuing a career they loved and found rewarding so THEY can be the one teaching their kids morals, helping with homework, etc., those comments are throat punches.
- Paula Deen to 104.1 KRBE's Producer Eric 9/17/2011
PS - those FB status updates are like nurses posting "another year of getting paid to wipe your sick and ailing family members' a$$es." Wouldn't that tick us off to see?
Like teachers, nurses do so much more than that. But then they do a lot of that, wiping up vomit, putting up with cranky a$$ attitudes, and more as well.
It'd be great to know that some teachers wake up saying, "Another year of helping your kids explore new possibilities, expand their reasoning ability, learn new facts about this world, and develop into more enriched human beings!"
- Paula Deen to 104.1 KRBE's Producer Eric 9/17/2011
The face of Kitty-Hate
I can only speak for DH but he does say what MB posted above and loves what he's done for the last 17 years.
I think he's a great teacher and so do his co-workers/ superiors. That being said, he has had and I'm sure will continue to have students who hang out in his classroom because they'd rather be there than home. Because they can't get homework done at home because of the drugs and other things that prevent them from doing anything. Because they don't get food at home. The list goes on and on. Teachers sign up to give kids every chance they should have but there are just some things that aren't in the job description. Does he let counselors know what's going on with these kids, of course. To turn them away because it was not in his job description, would just be teaching these kids that there is no one they can trust. The fact that they even come to him is commendable and yet gets no recognition. I don't think many of us realize just how bad it gets not only for te teachers but for some kids as well.
Now DH would never in a million years post something like that on facebook or any other public forum. However, we discuss it. I'm sure he's discussed it with co-workers. I don't think that makes him a spiteful person and not love his job at all.
Now having 26 minutes for lunch; when lunch is at 10:30 a.m.. Yeah that gets his bitter side.
You said what I was trying to find the words to say.
My last school was hard to teach at. I was drained almost daily from things I had to do. I honestly couldn't handle it anymore and that's why I had to switch schools. The things teachers had to do at times that were out of the *normal* scope of what a teacher does would blow your mind.
I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone that loved every.single.aspect. of every.single.thing they did/do at work.
That said I'd never be dumb enough to post it on FB. We all know you'd never have to worry about that from me anyways ;-)
That would irritate me. Maybe because I actually do raise my child (like everyone else is saying, there are a LOT of parents out there who don't, so these teachers' FB statuses might be true). HOWEVER, I do understand the whole it takes a village mentality in raising kids, and teachers are most definitely part of that village. And thank God, literally, because no way do I want to homeschool my kid! I love her to pieces, she's fun and smart as a whip, and I work with her on stuff at home...but thanks, I'll leave the teaching up to the teachers
I think saying that on Facebook is in extremely poor taste, though. They may think this, and it may only be about certain parents who they come in contact with who aren't involved in their kids' lives at all, so the teachers DO end up "raising" them....that's sad. But to act like the rest of us don't have a part in raising our own kids is ludicrous. And to say it out loud is even MORE out of line. If I saw that on FB from any friends of mine who are teachers or my kid's teacher, I'd be pretty ticked.
I guess it is a you don't really know until you have walked in my shoes thing. I know A LOT of people moan and groan about it but I really don't think it is anymore than someone else b!tching about any kind of job. Everyone needs to vent.
I have told every class I have had today this is our home away from home and we are a family. I help raise every kid that comes to my class, even the ones with great parents. I set an example and model what a decent, kind, and harworking human being should be like. Kids need lots of mentors and people to look up to, not just their parents. The "it takes a village" kinda idea.
The teachers posting the negative crap on their facebooks today have lost focus and gravitate on the negative. They probably won't make it for the long haul.
Totally agree. But if one vents to one's spouse or friends over margaritas that is one thing and totally normal. To set the tone of one's upcoming year with a comment on FB along those lines reflects a huge lack of sensitivity to parents who work very hard to not be THOSE parents.
- Paula Deen to 104.1 KRBE's Producer Eric 9/17/2011
I agree with this. Yes, I'm sure they get paid to raise some kids. Sad, really. I don't plan on a teacher being paid to raise MY kids. I respect what they do - it wouldn't have been for me.
Not defending the original FB poster in any way but would this conversation be different if she would have posted-
"Getting read to teach/raise your kids- you know who you are"... Implying that the comment was not directed to everyone or parents who are actively involved with their child's lives?
If I posted- my co-workers are childish and not worth working with, it wouldn't mean I thought this about every single co-worker. Okay most of them :-)
My point is I think the comment is taken out of context when moms here- who we all must admit do not fall into the "I send my kid to school and don't think twice about them" category, apply it to themselves and become offended.
This is similar to what I meant in my post.
My mom is not a teacher but she has been the secretary to the vice principal at my high school for almost 30 years. in that school, the VP is also the person who deals with discipline cases. my mom spends every day dealing with the worst of the worst in a small, blue collar town with the scourge of meth addiction and teenage pregnancy. the kids she sees are often the results of their parents issues and she does carry that weight on her shoulders. when she went to that school as a librarian's asst so many years ago, you better believe the current situation is not what she signed up for. she has kids who get in trouble sometimes just so they can go to her office and she gives them a glass of water and lets them sit in peace. kids are growing up in some really, really sad situations these days and school is their greatest hope for a brighter future. if we don't fund it, don't support it and teachers don't want to be there, have fun paying for a lifetime of having these kids in the court system.
"Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog."? Mark Twain
Sorry- that was kind of a vent but I am so discouraged about the state of our schools. SEVEN wonderful, caring teachers I know (only 1 in TX) have left teaching because of issues within the system or because it just got too damn hard. I know a few good ones still holding on and they all woke up this morning and probably said "it is an honor and privilege to help raise the next generation today." My heart goes out to them and all the people who are helping a kid from a bad situation get a leg up today and every day.
I agree with all of the above responses.
To the bolded, I think that is why the comment is really unsettling to me. We've made sacrifices for me to stay at home with my son and I definitely don't expect anyone else to be raising him, especially when he goes to school. He is going to be sent to school to learn not to be "raised".
i get what you're saying but i guess i think i agree with what michellebelle (i think?) said about if a nurse said "ready to take care of your indigent people today because you can't."
saying "i work with stupid people" is different than saying "what i do sucks." to me, teachers who vent about having to raise other people's kids are saying they don't want to have to do that and that there isn't value in it. that's different IMO
but you're totally right that it comes across to parents who care as offfensive. parents who don't care, won't care. but then that begs the question, why say it?
I tend to agree with all of this.
I get that it's a vent etc, but if you are already needing to voice your bitterness before the year has even begun then perhaps you should find another job.
I have a friend who teaches preschool to poor kids in Chicago. (Preschool is publicly funded in IL so all kids go, it is not preschool like we have here.) She really does raise her students, they come into her class as unruly, un-potty trained 3 year olds who have never seen letters, numbers or playdough and they leave her class at the end of the year as little people. Her 1st day of school FB post was a vent but it was a vent more along the lines of "boy I have my work cut out for me this year!"
It's facebook. I put 98% of everything I read on facebook in the stupid file. That's including the stuff I post myself.
If I had seen a post (or heard a comment) like that, my only response would be "Stick to your job and I'll stick to mine".
While I believe that teachers have an important role in my child's life, raising her is not within their job description.
BFF
Molly's Playground
My Office
My Playground
That would have made me laugh because it shows a sense of humor rather than pure bitterness.
I don't really take offense to her comment. Had I seen the original comment, I would have thought:
1) How unprofessional, hope your boss doesn't see it.
2) I'm glad you're not my kid's teacher.
I think it takes a special kind of person to teach and enjoy it, with all the crap they have to put up with.
Being a teacher and very professional I would NEVER EVER post a comment like that on FB nor would my previous principals tolerate that kind of behavior.
In fact I know many districts that discuss FB with teachers.
Now I will say I have worked in many title 1 schools where we have zero parent support and I have had to set a good example for the kids as these particular parents were in jail, meth addicts, etc.
This.
I find it peculiar that you had numerous people post crap like that on your feed. Mine is blowing up with "So excited to meet my new kiddos!" "Can't wait to get my class and get back into a routine" etc. The only "complainy" thing is "I hate waking up early, wish we could start at 9" and that sort of thing. I don't really think most people would take issue with that, though. I mean, I'm not a morning person at all so I hate that work, in general, requires getting up early. I can't even take care of an appt and roll in a bit late occasionally because I have 22 kiddos lined up outside my door.
And, justified in the raising or not, I'm shocked someone would post that on Facebook and really don't think crap like that should be defended. We all have bad days and need to vent but the year hasn't really gotten off the ground yet. If someone has that kind of attitude going on, then I hope they don't let the door hit them on the way out. I hate working with people like that. Thankfully, they are very few at my school (I can only think of 1 and she's been shockingly positive this year).