No job is perfect. Every workplace has downsides and upsides – and we all just hope to get more of the latter than the former.
Things become tricky when the downsides are your colleagues. We all like to think that we would be strong enough to speak up if we felt like there was abuse coming from our peers – after all, that’s part of what an HR department is for.
But for teachers…it’s not nearly so simple.
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As teacher Annie Demczak points out, when you’re suffering abuse at the hands of the kids you’re also charged with caring for, teaching, and nurturing, things go from tricky to extremely complicated.
Even if maybe they shouldn’t.
She starts out talking about abuse and how we’re taught to deal with it, and how teachers struggle with those truths at school.
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And then, of course, goes into the fact that, as a teacher, she loves her students.
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But boundaries are still important.
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Because taking abuse at work and thinking you can’t do anything about it is not okay. Full stop.
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And we need to stop expecting teachers to do it with a smile.
So check with your kids, check with your teacher friends, and always share posts like these, so we can de-stigmatize teachers speaking up to get the help that they need.
