As someone that has two adult children become a teacher and an EA, this article skips over the parents role in behaviour management. While extra funds for classroom support are needed, that’s a bandaid on an underlying problem. A problem that is way harder to fix, and hopefully smarter people than me have a plan for it.

What they faced as teacher/EA was not so much behaviours from children with special needs, but horrible behaviours from the “normal” kids with general lack of respect for the teacher and the institution.

They had kids as young as 9-10, calling them f@cking bitches, stealing items out of their desk, refusing to sit and do their lessons. The kids are way below grade level because they are pushed through the system even if they are “failing” to meet required learning. Except every once in a while homework comes back perfect, because parent filled in the worksheet.

When they meet with parents (if parents show up) it becomes apparent why their child is not succeeding, the parents are not reinforcing good learning behaviours at home and actual end up reinforcing bad behaviour.

When discussing bad behaviour of their child one parent got upset and spit on the teachers, and threatened violence, so they had to call the police.

They have parents barge into classroom demanding homework for their kid that is sick at home, completely bypassing the office. When they explain they are doing their lesson and will send info to the office for the parent to pickup (as is protocol) they become belligerent.

I honestly don’t know how they cope, because being exhausted from a class of 30 badly behaved kids, and then having to deal with badly behaved parents would make me leave that profession.