A fed-up teacher on the verge of giving up her career decided she had had enough of the BS her students give her and demanded parents take responsibility for their children’s bad behavior. Highlighting just how desperate the situation is for some educators, the Texas teacher shared jaw-dropping images, calling out parents and their shortcomings.
Julie Marburger, a sixth-grade teacher at Cedar Creek Intermediate School, was at her wits end after a difficult day in the profession that had previously sparked a passion for her. In fact, she found herself so distraught that she had decided it was time to quit her job because she simply could not take it anymore. Before resigning, however, she decided to write a post that she hoped parents everywhere would read.
“I left work early today after an incident with a parent left me unable emotionally to continue for the day,” Julie began her impassioned Facebook post, according to Newsner. “I have already made the decision to leave teaching at the end of this year, and today, I don’t know if I will make it even that long,” she admitted before delving into what she believes has led to her dissatisfaction in a career she once loved; namely, parents.
“Parents have become far too disrespectful, and their children are even worse,” Julie Marburger wrote before calling out school officials as well. “Administration always seems to err on the side of keeping the parent happy, which leaves me with no way to do the job I was hired to do…teach kids.” In an effort to show just how bad things have become, Julie included photos that she took in her classroom over a short 2-day period and the disrespect and destruction were evident.
“This is how my classroom regularly looks after my students spend all day there,” the fed-up teacher wrote alongside images of destroyed books, broken bookshelves, and damaged bulletin boards, as well as unnecessary messes left behind by unruly kids. Lambasting the complete disregard for both her personal and school property, Julie also pointed out that “many of the items damaged or destroyed by my students are my personal possessions or I purchased myself,” saying she has “no classroom budget.”
The destruction wasn’t the only problem Julie Marburger was facing. “Report cards come out later this week, and I have nearly half of my students failing due to multiple (8-10) missing assignments,” she explained. “Most of these students and their parents haven’t seemed to care about this over the past three months, though weekly reports go out, emails have been sent and phone calls have been attempted,” she continued, admitting that she was bracing for blowback.
“I’m probably going to spend my entire week next week fielding calls and emails from irate parents, wanting to know why I failed their kid,” Julie wrote, according to Bored Panda. “My administrator will demand an explanation of why I let so many fail without giving them support, even though I’ve done practically everything short of doing the work for them. And behavior in my class will deteriorate even more.”
As for those who might suggest the teacher was getting upset about something that hadn’t yet happened, Julie went on to say, “I am expecting this because it is what has happened at the end of every other term thus far.” Saying she “finally had enough” and was “drawing a line in the sand on a myriad of behaviors” that she was “through tolerating,” Julie explained that “one parent today thought it was wrong of me to hold her son accountable for his behavior and decided to very rudely tell me so, in front of her son.”
The ordeal had rightfully left the teacher heartbroken. “I have never heard of a profession where people put so much of their heart and soul into their job, taking time and resources from their home and family, and getting paid such an insultingly measly amount,” Julie went on. “Teachers are some of the most kind and giving people I have ever met, yet they get treated so disrespectfully from all sides. Most parents can’t stand to spend more than a couple hours a day with their kid, but we spend 8 with yours and 140 others just like him. Is it too much to ask for a little common courtesy and civil conversation?”
“It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember to have a classroom of my own, and now my heart is broken to have become so disillusioned in these short two years,” Julie recalled, adding that she was not alone. “This is almost all I hear from other teachers as well, and they are leaving the profession in droves. There is going to be a teacher crisis in this country before too many more years has passed unless the abuse of teachers stops,” she warned before demanding parents step up before it’s too late.
“People absolutely HAVE to stop coddling and enabling their children. It’s a problem that’s going to spread through our society like wildfire. It’s not fair to society, and more importantly, is not fair to the children to teach them this is okay. It will not serve them towards a successful and happy life,” Julie Marburger pleaded before giving a brutally honest conclusion. “Any passion for this work I once had has been wrung completely out of me,” she admitted. “THIS HAS TO STOP.”
It’s hard to disagree with Julie’s assessment. Teaching is one of the most important professions in society. The success of future generations depends on educators, and we need these teachers to genuinely endeavor to be good at what they do. It’s hard to do your best, however, when you hate your job. If teachers are saying that our unruly children are causing them to loathe their profession, it’s time for us to reevaluate what we are doing as parents.
Producing productive members of society should not fall on the teachers’ shoulders alone. In fact, it should start at home. If we are turning out troublesome children who make educators want to flee the profession as they are being broken down both physically and mentally, what kind of society will we have when these kids become adults and we turn them loose? I don’t want to find out, and if teachers across the country are telling us it’s time to take responsibility and reel in our unruly and disruptive children, perhaps it’s time to listen.
