Teacher says parents aren’t 'parenting' anymore, leaving schools to fill the gaps in kids' lives

While teachers are considered second parents to students, the situation is rapidly moving away from its 'second' nature. More often than not, teachers find parents leaving the bigger share of parenting responsibilities to the teacher. What they fail to realize is that a teacher has to look after several children and not just one, leaving them in an insane time-crunch to mete out the best care to all. A Reddit user (u/dabmaster0204) recently asked, "Why do you think parents aren't motivated to actually parent anymore?" and the responses have been going viral for various reasons. Here's what fellow teachers around the world shared on November 4.

u/dabmaster0204 shared that most teachers are forced to "fill in a lot of gaps" left empty by parents. Posing the question, the author received many reactions from teachers in the forum. In response, u/Prize_Common_8875 shared that working parents who are now finding it difficult to manage their kids are the reason for such a difference. Drawing parallels with previous generations, they wrote, "But I'd argue that in previous generations, usually a parent stayed home to take care of the kids during the time they weren't in school. As things have gotten more expensive and culture has shifted, more and more households have two working parents. Parents come home from work tired, and it's easier to entertain the kids/keep the peace than it is to actually parent." In fact, several teachers have united to complain about parents getting children addicted to their iPads. They also added that due to varying parenting trends on social media, parents are "scared" of making kids mildly uncomfortable. "They don't set or hold firm to realistic boundaries."

u/Then_Version9768 explained that the social breakdown was the reason for such a change. "We have liars, bullies, and self-interested greedy cheats in power at the highest level, and apparently, most Americans are okay with that," they wrote, adding, "How can you raise children well in that kind of selfish, cheating society run by unprincipled bullies? You cannot easily do that. Where are our role models anymore?"

The sentiments raised by the Reddit users have been echoed in the 2020 study authored by Mingzhi Mao, Lijun Zang, and Haifeng Zhang. The study notes that parental absence negatively impacts the development of children, stating that in such cases, teachers often compensate to fill these gaps, which, although it helps in the short term, increases the workload and emotional labor of teachers on the whole. While teachers exist to support kids' development, it cannot be their responsibility alone, as we risk burning out the very unit parents rely on to shield their kids while they're out doing their jobs.

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