Teachers explain their concerns over how Gen Alpha students are behaving in class

Today's generation is much different than the previous ones and that is due to a lot of factors. However, the most prominent factors have to be access to social media and excessive usage of electronic gadgets. So much exposure at an age when you cannot entirely understand the difference between what is good for you and what isn't can only result in overall stunted growth. In a video posted by Newman Music Academy—who goes by @teresakayenewman on TikTok— she, as an educator, talks about how Gen Alpha needs to do better to not stay behind concerning emotional, mental and academic growth.

She begins the video by stating that even though she has been talking about the terrible behavior of Gen Alpha kids in the classroom, no one took her seriously because she's too old. Well, she finally came across a lot of young Gen Alpha teachers addressing the same. She also stitched a few videos of other educators saying things about Gen Alpha students. While one educator said, "This is my folder of crying teachers and they are confused and frightened by the behavior of Gen Alpha. They're saying Gen Alpha is defiant, aggressive, disrespectful and rude," another one said that having to teach and work with Gen Alpha as children have been the most traumatic experience of her life. Many also mentioned how they respect no authority and are quite misbehaving. One such educator also pointed out how he teaches the seventh grade, but the kids there are performing as per the fourth-grade level.

Newman spoke about how she had consistently tried to alert people about how badly Gen Alpha was performing. She said, "Every time I make a video about these topics, I'll get people that have never worked with kids or have never spent a day in the classroom as an educator to give me lines like, 'Well, you're just old and jaded if you don't like it.'" She explains how these kids have always been like this and blaming it on the pandemic isn't the best thing to do. She also clarifies that she is talking about the special population of kids and not about any children with special needs. She mentions that all teachers, whether amateurs or veterans have the same opinion on Gen Alpha. She says, "Your children are missing the mark on discipline. They're missing the mark on education standards. They're missing the mark on literacy. They're missing the mark on socialization." While there are a lot of things to blame this on, like iPads, the lack of socializing during COVID and a bad economy leading to no time left for parents to spend with their kids, it's time to stop making excuses and deal with the problem.

There's nothing wrong with blaming the kids if that helps them be and do better. She strongly states, "The problem is that we have this generation of parents that don't want to take accountability for not doing what they need to do to raise self-sufficient kids that are socialized or kind. And no, it's not the kid's fault." She explains how Gen Alpha has been raised to believe that they are adults with the right to speak however to anyone, even if they're only ten. They are told that violence is acceptable and that it's okay to not care about anything or anyone. They haven't been taught any boundaries whatsoever. They believe their actions or lack thereof, have no consequences whatsoever.

She explains how pinpointing these things isn't about educators trying to be mean but about trying to give them a better future. She explains how it's no longer an old person having a problem with a young person thing because all educators-young or old, are raising the same concerns with this generation. She explains, "If you are not ready to admit that there's a problem here, we cannot get anywhere near even talking about the solutions." She concludes by saying, "We cannot raise a generation of kids that are this tuned out, that are this rude, that are this violent to each other, to adults, to people younger than them. We just can't do it," and she makes complete sense. Emphasizing the problem at hand, @homosexualfish said, "My mom was a teacher for 20 years across two states, teaching elementary, middle and high school ages and Gen Alpha was the reason she quit."

You can follow @teresakayenewman on TikTok for more educational content.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 28, 2023. It has since been updated.