Teacher explains why parents should go basic while shopping for school supplies and they've got a point

It is quite normal for kids to go for the fanciest school supplies, be it a pencil box or a simple stationary item like a ruler. They might look all colorful and beautiful but in terms of usage, they will do the same thing. And that's what school teacher Katie Alburger (@_adaywithmissa) is trying to tell parents through her recent video. She suggests parents keep the school supply shopping as simple as possible. Alburger begins, “As a teacher, I’m here to tell you that the more basic you go, the more your teacher will appreciate it."

“For example, if your child’s school’s file list has a ruler, this is what they’re talking about,” she says while holding a 12-inch wooden ruler. “Not a snap bracelet ruler that is going to end up hurting someone.” She continues, “Almost every school’s file list is going to have glue sticks, right? We don’t need colored scented glue sticks because for 40 more cents; you can get 12 regular glue sticks — and chances are your child’s teacher probably does community supplies, which means that would come in handy to have 12 more than four." Alburger adds, "The child doesn't need silly scented crayons, a regular 24-pack will do and you will save yourself $5. Same with markers, we do not need scented markers. We just need regular Crayola 12 washable markers, and that's if your child needs markers."

Then she goes on talk about pencil boxes. “OK, they need a basic pencil box,” she says. “I can have a character on it if they want to get a little bit more personalized, but a fidget pencil box is going to become a toy and your teacher’s worst enemy. So, please don’t do that to them. I completely understand that poppets are a fidget that some children need. They just don’t need it on their pencil box.” She concludes by saying, “Basic school supplies that we need in a classroom should not be a toy.”

The video is captioned, "PSA: when school supply shopping, please please get standard items! Save the fancy for home and they can use that for homework and free time." It went viral with about 251 thousand views and 18 thousand likes. 

Many parents loved what the teacher shared. @magenellyse commented, "The best thing our school does is supply kits. I pay $35 and they get the supplies. All I worry about is backpack and headphones." @mediocre_badguy wrote, "Save the fancy stuff for home so it doesn’t get lost, stolen, or broken." @gabigrillo88 said, "I always try and explain this to my daughter. It’s all a distraction from learning. I buy her things for school and things at home." @desiraetoohey shared, "Yes!! Basic everything. Except for the crayons. My son has sensory issues so I buy the twist crayons and they stay with him, not in the Gen pop."

However, some parents were against the idea of community supplies. They said that they end up spending so much on supplies for their own children that they do not want to spend more for the whole class. Some even complained that due to community supplies, their kids end up getting cheap things despite them buying quality stuff for everyone.