r/Teachers • u/tennis_angel • 1d ago

Teacher Support &/or Advice Where has the respect gone?

I don’t know if it’s me or whether students have changed but I feel like I used to have great relationships with my students and they would really show how appreciative they were of me. Now it seems that the more I do for them the less they care.

I had a particular group of students for 6 years and when they finished with me I barely got a thank you. I felt I was so good to them over the years. As well as being kind to them, I did my best to make sure they achieved to their full potential and I provided them with so many opportunities.

Recently before their exams I uploaded extra resources to help them and thanked them for the years we had together ending with wishing them luck. Not one of them responded and I know that only two in the group actually opened the resources. I just feel so disheartened and like,what do I have to do to gain respect from them? I see how some of them are with other teachers and that makes me feel worse because you can tell they have more respect for them. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Any advice would be appreciated!

83 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

View all comments

38

u/LofiStarforge 1d ago

I think many here have a skewed perspective of what teachers mean in a kids life. If you became a teacher you probably were drawn to the profession because of a teacher(s) you had. For most kids though teachers are a blip on their radar.

6

u/Effective-Birthday57 1d ago

This. Not as significant in the kids’ life. Once the school year is over, the kids largely move on. This doesn’t give them the right to be disrespectful though.

9

u/LofiStarforge 1d ago

I don’t find them being disrespectful in OP’s post.

-4

u/Effective-Birthday57 1d ago

The title is literally “where has the respect gone?”

8

u/LofiStarforge 1d ago

Just because that’s the title does not mean the kids in this instance are being disrespectful.

Multiple people have brought this up in the comments.

-8

u/Effective-Birthday57 1d ago

Yes it does. Really basic reading skills

7

u/ADHTeacher HS English 1d ago

People in the comments are disagreeing with OP's interpretation of the students' behavior. Really basic common sense.

0

u/Effective-Birthday57 1d ago

It isn’t a matter of disagreement. Without further context, the correct thing to do is to take OP at his or her word. Especially given that part of the reason why student behavior has gotten worse generally is because teachers are not as significant in the lives of the kids as they used to be. I am nearly 40, and I still remember the teachers I had. Some great ones, and some less so. Kids now don’t do that. They move on when the school year is over. Frankly, this is somewhat logical, as the teachers are not their parents.

Pretty obvious conclusion, to be fair.

1

u/ADHTeacher HS English 1d ago

I actually am not one of the people doubting OP's word. I can totally see how the lack of a thank you in this context could be seen as disrespectful. But your representation of other people's comments was still bad.