The education community has been forced into new teaching methods ever since COVID-19. Teachers have suddenly found themselves in uncharted territory. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified a lot of problems facing public schools—but it didn’t create most of them. The epidemic lack of balance, between teachers teaching and students learning, existed long before the pandemic; students didn’t show up or don’t their work when in the school building and it only worsened after 2020.
More than half of the student body gave up on their education during the pandemic. Parents have tried to get their students to try to care but in the long run, it fails. It always fails. The only thing that will change a person’s mind once they have given up, is that individual. Most teachers have come up with new ways to teach their students, but if half of the class isn’t paying attention, there is really no point in teaching the class.
This new way of education has led to many people leaving the profession and there are many reasons why teachers quit their jobs. Many enter the profession out of a desire to make a difference in the community and their students’ lives. However, they often realize they are stifled by unrealistic expectations, ever-changing initiatives, limited opportunity for growth and lack of support. Let’s be honest, school has become a daycare. Students are disrespectful, rude and often volatile. They break things, steal and disrupt the learning environment.
Most importantly, many students lack the drive to push themselves to further their education, to make them the best they can be. Teachers are expected to help achieve high test scores while simultaneously maintaining classroom management and keeping up with extracurricular activities. The workload can often leave teachers facing long hours of work, far beyond their school day duties.
Teachers become tired of spending their nights and weekends grading assignments and planning lessons that cannot be completed during their contracted hours. Arriving early to set up the lessons and staying late to grade papers can have its toll on one’s mental well-being (and personal life).
Some students nowadays take extreme measures to keep them from getting to school on time or focusing on the task at hand. Students who often refuse to go to school will report unexplained symptoms like headaches or stomach aches because they don’t want to be at school. It is understood that there are valid reasons to keep students from school: students will get sick, and students sometimes have anxiety that manifests in physical ways. In these situations, they naturally won’t be able to be at school.
Modern school has seemingly become a daycare. Students have become disassociated from the traditional classroom setting, and at times become unbearable to be around. In many ways, it is like the education in America has significantly decreased since the pandemic.
Resources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/09/29/new-study-explores-why-people-drop-out-or-dont-enroll#:~:text=The%20study%20found%20that%2038,felt%20uncertainty%20about%20their%20career
https://www.linkedin.com/advice/1/what-most-common-reasons-students-drop-out-school-xfcxc#:~:text=These%20can%20include%20health%20issues,or%20ashamed%20of%20their%20situation.
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/help-center/why-do-students-lose-interest-high-school#:~:text=Students%20tend%20to%20lose%20interest,doing%20in%20their%20busy%20lives.
