“When this kid constantly threatened to beat Drew up, the school did nothing. When this kid followed Drew down the hall making fun of him on video, the school did nothing. When other kids told teachers and administrators he was harassing Drew, the school did nothing. Drew decided he would quit relying on the adults to protect him. He decided HE would do something.”
‘My son got suspended 5 days for beating up his bully. As a parent, I’m supposed to be upset with him. Not even a little.’: Mom shares plea for change after son is continuously bullied
‘People HAVE to stop coddling and enabling their kids. Any passion I had for this work has been wrung out of me.’: Woman addresses ‘teacher abuse’ before quitting profession, ‘no one wins’
“For as long as I can remember, it’s been a dream of mine to have a classroom of my own, and now my heart is broken. I’ve never heard of a profession where people put so much of their heart and soul into their job and get treated so disrespectfully from all sides. I’ve made the decision to leave teaching at the end of this year. THIS HAS TO STOP.”
‘A man said something to me about not knowing what to do when he sees breastfeeding in public in this age of #MeToo. Yes, he was serious.’: Woman schools man on his ignorant comment, ‘Keep your mouth shut’
“He went on to explain he can’t help but ‘notice’ breastfeeding, and since he’s a guy, he can’t help looking at breasts when they’re ‘just out there.’ Yes, I educated him.”
‘Do you know what sex is?’ I pointed to the diagram. ‘I’m SIX, mom!’ He squirmed and furrowed his brows.’: Mom says we shouldn’t ‘have the sex talk,’ ‘we should have many’
“So, the ‘big talk’ was finished, right? Not even close. A year later, my son asked, ‘Mom, what is sex?’ after he heard a kid at school mention the word. I’d been patting myself on the back thinking my son was well-informed up to this point. I remember thinking, ‘Dear god, what if I’m too late?’ My instinct was to stall for time.”
‘You don’t belong here and your color is awful!,’ a child said to my 5-year-old African American son on his first day of school.’: Mom worries for her adopted children at school this year, says despite ‘all the goodness, there is hurt’
“Before he even stepped foot into his new classroom, a child on the playground came up to him. At age 5, my son had to come home and tell our family this as we sat around the dinner table. I had to look away so he wouldn’t see my tears.”
‘What, he’s sick of you already?’ My dad, my best bud, left. He allowed a younger woman to tear the family apart. He was no longer my dad. Instead, her husband.’: Woman overcomes childhood trauma, succeeds in school when ‘no longer under mother’s control’
“I realized at an early age that the only way I was going to escape was through education. I was accepted to every single college I had applied. She refused to provide them with her tax return so I could qualify for Financial Aid. I was crushed. But, I pushed forward.”
‘My boyfriend is on the couch. ‘What is wrong?,’ he asks. ‘I’m pregnant.’ I said sobbing. He turned his TV show off and hugged me. ‘What do you want to do?,’ he asked me.’
“I was 19 and in college to be a teacher. Getting pregnant was the last thing on my mind. I had goals, aspirations, a dream career. Everything was going right. My boyfriend and I had only been dating for 6 months, we barely knew each other.”
‘I’m ok to keep repeating until I pass.’ This is my adopted brother. His mother died of lupus; his father has a new family now. He’d need to repeat 6th grade.’
“People question ‘why was he allowed to graduate with that kind of average?’ or ‘he is barely able to read and write, how did he pass?’ The thing is, he tried and kept trying. We never scolded him, never made him feel like he did not know anything. We never made him feel bad about himself.”
‘I gave my 10 year old a math test. He spent nearly an hour and used 4 sheets of scratch paper. He worked each problem with intense concentration.’
“And then, with a deep breath, he handed it to me to be graded. I quickly worked my way through the test and calculated his score. Immediately his eyes filled with tears.”
‘OK, FINE. You don’t want to pay teachers like a college educated PROFESSIONAL? Then give them the glorified BABYSITTER RATE.’
“As a young teacher, I am in $70,000 of school loan debt after finishing my bachelor’s and master’s degree. I had 5 years of experience and a master’s and was making $47,000, and as the primary income in my household, we were living paycheck to paycheck.”
