Frustrated teacher urges parents to stop ‘coddling and enabling their children’ in viral post

If having the hardest job in the world is a competition, teachers all over the world will probably win via landslide. If you think you can multitask, shape the future of not only one but a number of students, in addition to the stress dealing with the students’ and the parents’ attitude brings, and a meager salary, then think again.

Teaching is definitely not an easy profession and having coddled and enabled students in class and parents who are just as bad, sure ain’t helping.

A teacher in Texas, Julie Marburger, had a rough and emotional day to the point of having to leave work earlier after dealing with a parent. Not knowing who to turn into in this time of distress, Julie wrote an honest truth about the alarming trend of increase in disrespectful parents, who raise children totally lacking of discipline and respect.

In her Facebook post, Julie narrated how a parent berated her for letting her son deal with the consequences of his action, over the phone in front of the son and the rest of her students.

“Most parents can’t stand to spend more than a couple hours a day with their kid, but we spend eight with yours and 140 others just like him. Is it too much to ask for a little common courtesy and civil conversation?” Julie vented on her Facebook post.

“Parents have become far too disrespectful, and their children are even worse.”

Indeed gone are the days where parents would demand a sound explanation to their children whenever they misbehave or perform poorly in class. Nowadays, everything is made to seem like the teacher’s responsibility. Perhaps most parents are beginning to forget that the job of the teacher is to teach and to pass the subject is the students’ accountability.

According to Julie’s post, the students’ report cards came out, and one mother complained about her son’s failing grade. Her son, like some other students, did not submit multiple assignments in class and so Julie made a number of emails and phone calls over the past three months to inform the parents about their children’s status in class.

What is disheartening is that despite Julie’s constant effort to reach out to the parents, the teacher’s lack of support to the students will still be deemed as inadequate by the parents and administration.

“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. Teachers are some of the most kind and giving people I have ever met, yet they get treated so disrespectfully from all sides.”

The students’ and the parents’ attitude towards the teachers are not the only concern of Julie’s Facebook post. Attached to her post are photographed learning materials she bought from her own meager salary, which were already destroyed by students. Evidently, a number of students do not only lack self-discipline, they also show no amount of appreciation to the effort of their teachers.

A lot of teachers started their career filled with aspirations. However, due to the rising number of entitled students coddled by parents in addition to an unsupportive administration, teachers are leaving their honorable profession.

See complete Facebook post.

“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.”

It is disheartening to see how children are raised overly sensitive to their own needs and emotions while overly insensitive to the feelings of others. Indeed students need support from their parents, however, a fine line needs to be drawn between supporting and enabling children. Disciplining children and preparing them to face the future with the right attitude is the parents’ job.

Teachers and people who know someone in the profession of teaching, feel the same for Julie. Most of those who shared Julie’s viral post shared a nightmarish experience they had in dealing with students and their parents.

One former teacher recounted how she was physically assaulted by one of her students, even worse was how the parents did the same thing to her in front of the district and union rep. She would like to take legal actions, however, her superiors refused to do so in fear of a lawsuit. Looking back to her traumatic experience, she wouldn’t want to go back to teaching anymore.

Julie’s post also reminded a wife of a teacher of the struggles her husband faced in school. Constantly getting phone calls from parents who wanted to know why their children are failing the class, and preparing for a number of re-tests just so the failing mark the student earned won’t reflect on the card, sure is exhausting.

On the bright side, it is uplifting to see a number of people and parents who understand and support Julie. One parent shared her perspective about how students should be held responsible for their grades.

Sharing an incident in which despite of a grade input wrongly by the teacher, she understands that it is her child’s duty to check and inquire about her grade. She believes it is crazy how parents blame teachers for the mistake and shortcomings of their child.

“We don’t pay teachers to raise our children. We barely pay them enough to teach the basics! Respect begins at home. Being responsible for our actions begins at home!” A parent commented on Julie’s post, expressing support to the teachers.

With a hopeful heart, may Julie’s viral Facebook post alert the parents and inspire them to discern the difference between coddling and supporting their child. May this serve as a call to action for parents to instill respect and self-discipline in their child. After all, an ideal learning environment is one put through the joint effort of parents and teachers.