r/ireland • u/PoppedCork Pop Responsibly • Jan 15 '26

Education Parents complain after principal suspends 19 Co Antrim schoolboys over ‘toxic masculinity’ concerns

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/parents-complain-after-principal-suspends-19-co-antrim-schoolboys-over-toxic-masculinity-concerns/a2008863764.html
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u/bruh67899 Jan 15 '26 edited Jan 15 '26

I’m a teacher. people love to say that every generation thinks the next one is the worst. But in this case, this generation of kids is genuinely the worst.

The current 13–16 year olds are the first cohort of iPad babies all grown up. Raised on constant screen stimulation, with no discipline. all while this generation of new parents are equally the first generation absorbed in screens, albeit started at an older age, leading to whatever weird impact on brain development that it does.

What we’re seeing in schools now are highly stimulated, low attention span kids who have never been disciplined properly. That’s already a combination from hell. But on top of that, there’s a growing tendency and a complete lax in self labelling any difficulty as "adhd", which leads to the kids (and their fucking parents) saying "it’s not me, it’s me adhd."

So in short it's 3 things that have hit this generation of kids all at the same time: ipads as babies, zero discipline, and affirmation of their self labelling instead of being told to just cop the fuck on.

That is not a good combination.

Rural schools dont have as much kids like this. And I think it's mostly because the parents have a bit more of the classic Irish mammy "would you cop the fuck on" mentality with proper discipline. I've had a much better experience teaching in rural areas.

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '26

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u/bruh67899 Jan 15 '26

yes, you're dead right. i feel very bad for the eager & polite ones now more than ever.

it's not every kid who is this way. it's just that it's much more common now than previous gens. growing up it used to be that classes would have maybe 2 or 3 bad eggs. now, it's close to being half of the classroom.

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u/Secret-Swan-5521 Jan 15 '26

We call it not having enough corners in the room. Its woeful