I teach tweens at a middle school, but don’t have children of my own. The school I work at is in a low-income area of a deeply red state in the US.

Here are some of my observations:

Many of these kids are legit addicted to their phones and short-form media. (But who isn’t in this day and age?)

I am concerned about the type of content boys are being fed. Lots to very young Andrew Tate fans and such. I overhear a lot of misogynistic or racist ideas being discussed very casually. Despite the outliers, I think many of my students are just baseline more understanding of other races, those that identify as LGBTQ+, and more aware of their emotions. Interracial relationships and friendships are common. Looking back, the 90s (when I grew up) was rife with casual racism and hate.

Some of the girls are shockingly vain. My school uses iPads and these kids will just stare at themselves in the camera non-stop. It’s kind of weird.

Social media definitely fuels a lot of dumb pranks and idiotic behavior around the school. (Again, this isn’t an issue specific to teens.)

The learning gap between the high achievers and low achievers is staggering. I have wonderfully bright students as well as students that are functionally illiterate at 12-13 years old. This is more a failure of an education system than a fault of the kids though.

These kids seem nihilistic/apathetic in a way I don’t remember me or my peers being at that age.

All-in-all, I’m remain cery hopeful of these kids, but their addiction to technology and the kind of content they get served by the algorithms is very concerning. I can’t imagine going through life without much of a formal education and building your entire worldview around social media.

I feel like the only way to actually enjoy video games anymore is to not pay attention to reviews or read about video games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQd6CYA6RAY

I am a relatively new teacher in Oklahoma. In my experience, the teachers I’ve worked with are a fairly mixed bag. There are absolutely amazing teachers working in Oklahoma that are knowledgeable and passionate about their content areas. I have also noticed a fair amount of teachers that are wildly under qualified or seem to only be in a classroom for the opportunity to take advantage of the system (frequently missing work, not actually teaching their students content, etc.) Oftentimes, though schools don’t have many options because they simply need bodies to supervise the students. It is very heartbreaking.

“My first year teaching I was pulled aside and told by my principal, “you actually have a degree in this, you’ll have to step in to help your team” - because the other science teachers were a Physical Education teacher and the schools secretary.”

I can relate to this. I’ll be entering my 4th full-year teaching. In my short time working in education, I have become the most senior and qualified teacher for my subject and grade level. I do the bulk of the curriculum planning for my subject.

The politics injected into public education via State Superintendent Ryan Walters is absolutely disgusting.

I’m solidly neutral good, but have occasional deviations into lawful good and chaotic good territory.

I teach at a middle school. I occasionally refer to my class as “chat” to make my students cringe. They hate it and tell me I’m too old.

Try teaching middle school. You’ll understand. That being said, teachers mostly do this as a joke.