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A teacher with more than 20 years experience says she can no longer deal with the ‘new type of parent’, and has retired early, claiming parents ‘just don’t care’.

Brenda, who teaches middle school in the US, took to her TikTok account to reveal that at 60-years-old she’s retiring 10 years earlier than planned, because she can no longer stand teaching.

“I have to speak as a teacher of 24 years, this being my last year, I’m retiring. I’m done. And I’m done because of one word. Parents.”

In a series of videos, which have been viewed millions of times, Brenda explains that children who are the product of parents who no longer care about education, have pushed her to breaking point.

@fitpeanut #teacherstiktok #teachersquitting #foryou #teacherburnout #teach #education #teacher ♬ original sound – Teacher,Teacher

“Education has changed so much, that it’s unbearable. And that is why there’s a teacher shortage. I have seen education change in 24 years and it hasn’t changed for the better. And a lot of it has to do with parenting, or lack thereof.

“The amount of time that I spend teaching is … let’s see, if I’m lucky, maybe 20 minutes within the class period. There’s so much other stuff going on every minute, every second of the class period.”

Brenda explained that the constant interruptions make it unbearably difficult to teach.

“The interruptions are insurmountable. Trying to teach is virtually impossible. We as teachers have become babysitters. And all we do is we’re putting out fires every two to three minutes.

“I have had it. I can no longer deal with the new type of parent and the new type of child that is a product of the parent that I am trying to teach. Many of these kids do not care. And they don’t care because their parents don’t care.”

@fitpeanut #teachertox #teachersoftiktok #teachertrend #teachertokusa #teachertruth #teacherquittok #foryou #teachersquitting #teachershortage #fyp #teachersbelike #imateacher #teacherlife #teachersquittalk #teacherstiktok ♬ original sound – Teacher,Teacher

But her videos have been met by angry comments from parents, who don’t agree.

“Teachers now a day are pathetic … we might have a chance now that your retired.”

“The problem I have with this is that kids and parents are painted as a problem. It’s disturbing. Even saying “parents don’t care”. I don’t think that’s true. Maybe you’d enjoy private school.”

“Yeah but one of the other big problems is you send these kids home with so much homework. You have them for 6 hours a day and they graduate and they can’t read right or spell.”

“Sounds like you’re complaining because you have to work.”

Brenda’s teaching confession is the latest in a series of teachers revealing just how difficult their job has become, including this teacher’s epic rant about high school students.

What do you think? Is the situation the same in Australia? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 

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  • I agree and disagree. I am a youth mentor in high schools. And there are some great teachers and some not so great. Respect is a 2way street. And in my experience there are some teachers who need to rethink if they are in the right industry or maybe it is time to retire. We can’t tar all parents with the same brush nor teachers

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  • As a teacher, I sympathise with this. I love teaching but parents and paperwork make it so difficult.

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  • The teachers can only teach reading, writing, arithmetic and about history. It’s very hard to teach if the children don’t even want to try. Saying that, I don’t believe it’s as difficult in Australia. Children also need to learn manners from their parents and to do their homework.

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  • I think it was a good choice that she retired early.

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  • I’ve met too many parents who think teachers are responsible for teaching their kids everything from manners up. So wrong. They are your kids you should want the best for them and teach them to treat others as they would like to be treated.

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  • My teacher friends say the same thing, they love teaching but cannot handle some of the parents.

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  • Teachers are doing a great job. Some parents are the big issue and don’t put the effort into their kids and expect teachers to do it all.

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  • Preach!
    People who bash on teachers need to step into a classroom. Preferably in a low socio-economic demographic to truly understand what goes on.
    Until someone’s had that experience, they need to stfu and let the teacher teach.

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  • All the money in the world would not be enough if I were a teacher in this day and age. I don’t need to be or talk to teachers to know how bad it is, I have watched and heard children swearing at their parents, refusing to do homework, refusing to go to school and being thorough abominable. If they are this way at home, how much worse are they at school. It isn’t hard to teach your own child some respect – thank you and please when they get something, To respect people who are in uniform because they are they to help and assist you and stamp out crime which damages all of us – uniform is ambos and nurses not just police and defence force personnel. It is not enough to say parents are both working so they don’t have time to bring their child up respectfully – if you don’t have the time for your own child then don’t have one.

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  • So agree. I have some many relatives who are teachers and my sister has been in the profession for over 50 years. She has now retired. She has stated that teaching children will now never be the same. Parents have alot to answer to. It’s a nightmare.

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  • I agree with this teacher’s assessment. I am more of an old school parenting method as that’s how I was raised and it didn’t harm me. All of these parents letting the kids decide and just talking to them softly and saying ‘don’t do that, that’s naughty’ and not actually following up with anything, is just plain weak and doesn’t teach the kids anything. They are literally pushing the boundaries to see what they can get away with and discover they can get away with everything! We as parents are there to guide and teach our children how to function in the world. You can’t just sit back and let them decide what to do when they are not mature enough to do so, they’re children!

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  • I have to admit, I’d struggle to be a highschool teacher..


    • Aw bless, wishing you patience and wisdom !

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  • It is a good idea to leave a profession before burning out and make choices to move in other directions.


    • It is a good idea to change careers and do other interesting things.

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  • I work in a school. My grandparents and my mum and some uncles and aunts were/are teachers.
    Schools looks so very very different today than they have in the past.
    I agree that parents need to be parenting their kids – discipline (I don’t mean beating your kids either by that) and giving them rules and boundaries and consequences.
    Too many kids in schools don’t care about the rules or consequences at school. They disrupt classrooms so that the teachers cannot teach and those who want to learn are finding it hard to do so.
    And the comment in the article about the teacher trying a private school? I work in a private school. Just because parents have money does not mean their kids behave any better than the public school (I’ve worked in public schools too).

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  • It really scares me with how the world is becoming these days.

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  • I think it’s both parties.
    Parents need to teach their kids to behave and teachers also need to “teach” – including respect and manners.

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  • I think it is really sad that a Teacher with so much experience is leaving the profession. For those who are applauding her early retirement. what happens when more Teachers leave and classes need to get merged causing more Children to be in each class. As parents we are busy, we work hard, we have little time. But their our children and if we want them to become good Adults we need to spend some time with them.

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  • I think there are some parents who don’t care and their children cause distractions and problems in class, some parents who expect the school or teachers to parent their children, and a curriculum set by the education department that doesn’t align with real life.

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  • I think both teachers and parents can take some blame here.

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  • Thanks to Covid, the harsh lockdowns (2years of it in Victoria), doing the remote learning gave us a great sense of appreciation of teachers and their work. They are under a lot of pressure, teaching our children but its not easy. They work even during their time off or after hours. They put so much commitment into shaping our kids growth.
    But parents also need to be supportive at home and make sure their kids are taught respect, values and principles. My boys are fortunate to be part of a school (which is only 3years of operation) that the school work with the parents. Not much homework. Different approach to learning. A great relationship between teachers and students means happy kids. Teachers are definitely unappreciated and need more credit. This story os a teacher retiring early, has every right to say what she said as she has endured.

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