Former Kindergarten Teacher Sparks Debate As She Explains Five Reasons Behind Her Quitting

Oct 27, 2021 by apost team

Many of us know teachers and are mindful of their legendary work ethic. Daily, they run the gauntlet of classrooms full of children, ranging from angelic to demonic, while earning less-than stellar wages. Oh, and they have to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning. While some parents try to make their job even harder by not parenting, overbearingly parenting too much, or simply by not believing their darling needs any discipline at all. And we wonder why so many teachers reach their wit's end.

Jessica Gentry was one of those teachers who reached her limit. In one brutally honest Facebook post from 2019, which garnered widespread attention, she defined five reasons her job stressed her out to the point of walking away from what she loved to do.

And as it turns out, her salary had absolutely nothing to do with her decision to quit teaching. Instead, Gentry cited a slew of difficulties and struggles she faced while on the job. She also used her very long Facebook post to describe how she felt left alone with these problems, either receiving no help from her employers and the children's parents or having her problems compounded by them. So, left alone with what felt to her were insurmountable odds, Gentry decided to quit her job even though she loved teaching kids and picked the job out of a heartfelt passion for education.

In the following, we'll take a look at what Gentry wrote and what prompted her to leave behind her dream job and what she considered her calling.

Gentry's first reason for leaving the profession was the belief that parents aren't taking responsibility for their children's actions. She states that parenting has changed due to, among other things, longer working hours and the increase of technology as a way to occupy their children's time. This takes away from parents teaching structure and discipline and showing love.

"Our classrooms are the first place they've ever heard 'no', been given boundaries, shown love through respect," she writes. She also explicitly states this point to explain that, contrary to what is often said, it's not the kids that have changed, but that parenting and how we deal with children has.

"The old excuse "the kids have changed". No. No friggin way. Kids are kids. PARENTING has changed. SOCIETY has changed."

Her second gripe focused on how technology-driven education reduces students' ability to interact with each other and society. "So forget the basics of relationship building and hands on learning," was the nicest thing she had to say about that. She went on to explain:

"Kids already can't read social cues and conduct themselves appropriately in social settings... let's toss more devices at them because it looks good on our website. During an interview, one division asked me "how are you with technology? That's important to us". Uhhh... I hear Bobo the chimpanzee is pretty tech savvy... I consider myself pretty great with kids."

The third issue that struck a nerve with the ex-educator centered on the reduction of time teachers are allowed to plan and prepare their lesson plans. The time formerly used for lesson planning is now used to train teachers on more technological-based methods.

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As she wrote in her post: "We had to attend a training on a school day (time missed with students) then it took us THREE WEEKS to administer it... one on one... to 21 students. Such. A. Waste. All of the info I could have told you about them without taking away from precious instructional time."

The fourth issue outlined in her epic Facebook rant, somewhat similar to her first reason, again targeted her inability to hold irresponsible parents accountable. She expressed her frustration with having to adopt a "customer service mindset" with parents instead of "making them true partners."

"I've seen the Facebook rants about attendance and getting "the letter". Well, here's the thing... I can't teach your child if he's not in school. I was cussed out by parents who wanted to attend field trips but missed the THREE notes that went home--and when they did attend a trip, sat on their phone the entire time. I've had parents stand me up multiple times on Conference Days then call to tattle on me when I refused to offer an after school option. I've had parents tell me that I'm not allowed to tell their child 'no'..."

It's no wonder teachers are fleeing in droves when faced with these conditions.

Gentry's fifth and final reason for permanently leaving the classroom can be emphatically summed up as follows: "Sitting in one meeting after another, begging for more support, only to be told 'don't lose sleep over them '... when you LOVE your kids and are PASSIONATE about your mission... these messages tear you apart."

What do you think? Do teachers get a bad rap? Is her problem exaggerated, or is there a real disconnect between our educators, their support systems and the parents?