Man Asks How To Help His Teacher Wife Who Is 'Losing Her Mind' On The Job — 'She Doesn't Want To Give Up'
“Should she exit in the name of her mental health?”
Pixel-Shot | Shutterstock It’s healthy to have an interest in the lives of those you’re closest to. Sometimes this interest can lead to concern, and that’s normal too. But feeling straight up anxiety because of what someone is going through is a warning sign, for you and for them.
One man found himself in that position after watching his wife, a teacher, work incredibly hard, all while “losing her mind.” Unsurprisingly, she isn't the only teacher in that predicament.
A concerned husband just wanted to get some help for his struggling teacher wife.
The “Teachers” community on Reddit is usually reserved for teachers themselves, but the husband of one found himself there to ask a question so he could help his wife, who is a teacher herself.
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“Reaching out to see if anyone has any … ideas on how to handle this situation,” he began.
“My wife is an elementary school teacher, and, like most teachers, she is absolutely losing her mind with this new generation,” he said. “The children simply don’t listen, they don’t focus, they are pretty baseline disrespectful.”
He continued, “Her school administration tends to ask a lot of the teachers — the teacher needs to simultaneously take care of the children, handle parents and run all sorts of extracurricular activities.”
Despite the problems with student behavior and the demands of administration, his wife is reluctant to try a new job.
“She studied endlessly and is fully certified to be an elementary school teacher,” he explained. “And now only a few years into the job, she really dislikes it.”
“We floated the idea of her being a tutor instead, but she didn’t like the idea of working during the evenings and on the weekends instead of typical hours,” he shared.
“Has anyone else had this issue?” he asked. “I know that a lot of teachers are frustrated with their jobs. A lot of teachers are quitting in droves. She doesn’t want to give up because this is her only occupation.”
“What have other level-minded individuals done in this situation?” he wondered.
Other teachers offered what encouragement and advice they could.
This is obviously a very difficult situation for everyone involved. And, of course, it is not isolated to this one family. Many other teachers are feeling the same strain right now.
“It’s time to get out,” one person commented. “After 34 years, I’m going to drive a truck. I will make more money and enjoy life more.”
“Same boat,” another affirmed. “I keep waiting for it to get better and it just doesn’t. The kids are super undedicated, they don’t practice and they want everything given to them for no effort on their part. They don’t even say thank you and argue at the drop of a hat.”
Another teacher offered an interesting and important perspective when they asked, “How long has she been in teaching? This is going to matter a lot, because the first three to five years can be overwhelming and you’re learning a ton and sometimes things change on a dime.”
It’s good for this couple to keep this in mind as it sounded like the man’s wife had not been teaching very long. Perhaps she would get more used to it if she stuck with it longer.
It’s true that teachers are quitting in large numbers.
Just like this husband and these commenters said, many teachers are leaving the profession. In fact, Schools That Lead reported that “8% of teachers quit every year, and younger teachers are the most likely to quit.”
Furthermore, “90% of teachers claim it’s a ‘serious’ problem, and 67% claim it’s ‘very serious.’”
As more and more teachers leave the profession, this will likely lead to a teaching crisis where there is a shortage of teachers. This will prove to be detrimental to the very students they claim are pushing them out of the occupation.
Some intervention must be taken before it gets to that point to ensure the state of education remains intact.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.