22 Teachers Share Differences Teaching Now Vs. Then

Buzz Feed

20 hours ago

Teachers who've been in the field for a longtime have had the chance to usher in generations of students through education — whether it's Gen X, millennials, Gen Z, or Gen A. And, along with the rest of the world, education, classroom culture, and curricular has changed over time. Recently, long-time teachers of the BuzzFeed Community shared the differences they've noticed between teaching kids now versus "back in the day," and some of the responses are...a bit wild and concerning:
"I've been teaching for over 25 years, and I've noticed a HUGE change in parental support and student behaviors. And once upper administration began treating families as clients, there has been an increased focus on test scores, too. At this point, families are our customers. Education is no longer a privilege provided to children and families, but a business where the students and parents hold all the cards. We, as teachers, are left with no authority or support, higher demands, and children who know that all it takes is a call to Mom or Dad to get the teacher in trouble. Why would anyone want to work in this kind of environment?"
—creativeghost553
"Trying to get my kids to not use ChatGPT has been the bane of my existence. It has become SO hard to get my students engaged and thinking critically when they know that the second they get home, they can have a robot come up with thoughts for them, or solve the equation for them. AI can be a helpful tool in some circumstances, but relying on it instead of our brains will be the downfall of education, I suspect. Back then, some kids plagiarized, sure, but AI has presented a whole new problem that many teachers, like myself, aren't sure how to navigate."
"I taught in gifted classes for 29 years. The novels I taught to middle school kids in the early '80s, my seniors couldn't read in 2012. It's so sad."
"I've been a teacher for 25 years. Nowadays, parents take everything their kid says as gospel. I have 150 children coming through my door each day. I do not have the time to make things up about your child's behavior, especially when I only get a 25-minute plan three days a week."
—boringtortoise285
"There are certainly differences between students from the beginning of my teacher career and those I'm teaching now. However, among the most significant changes are the learning demands, the pace of instruction, and the pressure to perform. Often, expectations aren't even developmentally appropriate for kids at their respective ages. My district begins administering standardized academic assessments in early childhood programs (literally 3- and 4-year-olds being tested and evaluated for reading and math skills). It's no wonder there's such a dramatic increase in childhood anxiety — they don't even have a chance to be kids, and it's really sad."
"I'm truly terrified by the literacy of our children. My 13-year-olds are reading at an average level of fourth grade. Not to mention that the vast majority of them have never finished a book. Our education system spoon-feeds students information to coddle their inability to focus on a text for long periods. We are just not setting them up for success, and it breaks my heart. Thankfully, we are finally starting to bring back accelerated reading, and each student now has to have two books with them. I'm praying this keeps going, because I just can't see these kids making it through college."
"Many students have Fs and read four grades below their grade level. It's a nightmare."
—Anonymous
"I am back in schools as a sub after 10 years of retirement. Kids haven't changed; they still act as idiotic as we did. Though attention spans are noticeably shorter, by high school, these young people have an awareness about themselves that we never had to worry about as teens. 'Stranger danger,' monthly active shooter drills, social media, and TV and media rarely ever being G-rated have had an effect on this age group. On the plus side, I see the littles being more accepting of each other. They don't see skin color, language barriers are overcome, and they think nothing of their more unique friends."
"Showing a movie back in the day was considered a reward. Today, kids can't sit through a movie and view it as some form of torture."
—Anonymous
"This is my 35th year teaching high school. Current students are more 'world-minded' and see the interconnection between themselves, their world, and the larger world. This is largely due to the internet, social media, and even gaming. I'm impressed by many of the students I teach. While it could be argued that more students have bigger behavioral problems in schools, I'm not convinced that young people overall have changed. Perhaps we see more behavior problems in schools because schools work SO much harder to retain students. Schools with low graduation rates face penalities now. Many students who, back in the day, would have been thrown out or counseled out of school are now kept in it. This has positive and negative impacts."
"I'm a 36-year teacher who started in 1988. Pre-smart phones and laptops, students weren't constantly fact-checking me. Now, before I even finish a sentence, kids will say, 'He's right,' or 'That's cap.' It's VERY annoying."
—lazyskeleton1232
"I've been teaching for almost 30 years. I love teaching and work hard to show my students that I care about them while holding my expectations high. I don't notice many major behavioral issues in my students; they generally seem to like me. But if they don't, I don't lose sleep over it because my goal isn't to be their friend but to help them learn. I just keep showing them that even if I don't matter to them, they matter to me and the school community. However, my biggest pet peeve these days is the effects of instant gratification on the learning process. There's been a huge shift in the last 10 years from 'I can figure this out' to 'Just give me the answer.' Students want to be fed their education in an entertaining way and for it to just magically stick without having to put in any muscle."
"Even students in middle school cannot read at the level they're supposed to."
—Spencer, 35, New York
"When I started teaching in the late '70s, the naughtiest things kids did was maybe chew gum in school or pass notes. Now, the kids are throwing furniture across the room, hitting other students in the head with chairs, or destroying bulletin boards in the hall. Mind you, I teach at an elementary school! Back then, when I taught the kids how to play a game, they played by the rules and had fun. Now, most kids try to find a way to cheat, then throw tantrums about losing. Back in the '70s and '80s, we spent most of our days teaching. Now, we spend most of our days dealing with behaviors and emotions."
"Kids are a lot more bold nowadays, and I say that in a positive light. They are a lot more confident in how they present themselves and their ideas, and they are keen on socializing with others and not being afraid to stick up for themselves, which are respectable traits that I didn't see much of in the past. The only thing that I'm really concerned about is AI. AI is ruining a lot in the classroom."
—Anonymous, Iowa
"The way kids talk to adults nowadays is atrocious. I've had students yell directly in my face, tell me no over simple tasks, and treat the adults like they're their own personal butlers. Maybe it's an independent school thing, but the entitlement is nauseating."
"I've been teaching since 2005 in grades K–2. The thing that scares me the most about this current generation of students is that they aren't curious. My kids used to pepper me with questions about all kinds of things. They would get really excited when we switched to learning a new topic or when they learned a new word. Now, kids just give me blank stares. Half the time, when I ask them to repeat something I said, they can't. You teach them a phonics concept or a problem-solving strategy and ask them to apply it, and they look at you like you're from another universe. It got so bad with my current class of second graders that around the first week of October, I sat them all down and asked them what I could do to make learning fun and exciting. You know what they said? They said they wanted to be on their tablets. And it's not really surprising."
"I commute via public transit and do my clothes at the local laundromat. I can't tell you how many times I've watched parents sitting next to their children, and while the child is zoned out, staring at something on YouTube, the mother is on her smartphone, scrolling Instagram. They don't talk to each other; they don't engage. Mom isn't pointing out landmarks on the street or asking the kid how their day was. They're not counting socks as they fold them or talking about the new store that's going in on the corner. Kids used to come in every morning, telling me about everything they did after school at the park, at their friend's house, and at their aunt's. Now, if they talk at all, they're talking to each other about what they saw on YouTube and the video game they played. My kids used to be excited to work in groups and learn together. Now, they're so busy squabbling they can't get anything done."—C., 42, New York
"Kids used to have respect for authority and manners — and they were the norm, not just the exception. You rarely had to raise your voice. Just a look was enough to get the point across. Now, you can't even get their attention. Parents used to believe the teacher over the child, and the children (no matter the grade) were expected to toe the line. Now, parents ignore teachers and defend their children no matter how offensive their behavior. And yet, we are expected to teach more than we used to and get higher scores with less help and participation from students and parents than ever before. Teaching was different in the '80, that's for sure."
"Kids today think they know it all and do not value the learning process. Why should they? The internet is at their fingertips. There's little value in creating opinions by researching facts to grow and change one's mind. As soon as kids see what they want to see, they run with it. It seems everyone is an 'expert' now. Prior to the rise of phones in schools, kids were better held accountable to each other and their actions in face-to-face interactions. Life demands weren't pulling family time apart, so parents were more engaged and willing to discuss school issues. Now, parents want to challenge everything but do nothing to help their children understand accountability for their learning and behaviors."
"We are now embedded in a society where uneducated children who cannot think for themselves and oftentimes look for the easy way out are going to be parents themselves. Our school system, broken to begin with, will continue to fail at helping create an environment that ensures learning for all. Had I known where this was going in 1995 when I graduated, I would have never pursued this career. Our federal government won't fund nor create programs that prioritize the betterment of our youth for the good of our country."—Jean-Paul, 51, Washington
"When I was teaching before the pandemic, kids would at least try if they didn't understand something or weren't confident. They'd at least put something down if there were a question on an assignment they weren't sure about. Sometimes it was a silly answer, but it was better than nothing! Now, my kids will just be like a deer in the headlights. If there's a question they don't understand, they don't even skip it and come back to it. They just give up. There are whole assignments they turn in blank! They're so afraid to be wrong that they don't even take chances."
"Eloping from classrooms. I've been teaching for 30 years, and in the past few years, students feel they can just leave the room whenever they want. I could understand if it was a bathroom emergency, but they would leave because they didn't want to do the work, they couldn't use their phones, etc. Many of them will say curse words as they head out the door, too. I would still be grounded today if I had done that when I was in school."
—Anonymous
Lastly: "The burden of responsibility. This has shifted away from students and families and more toward teachers as more districts adopt policies that 'hold the child harmless.' This has created a culture where students are no longer held accountable for themselves, their behavior, learning, work output, and more! While teachers still hold some responsibility for these, the families and students seemingly have zero, and THAT'S the problem — that partnership has eroded. If a student misbehaves or does not know how to socialize positively, the parents expect us to teach life and social skills FOR them (as I've had parents tell me). They seem to be more concerned about being liked or being their child's friend. But kids no longer have consequences for poor grades or behavior, and while I think second chances are excellent, not everything in life gets a redo."
If you're a longtime teacher, what are some differences you've noticed teaching kids now versus back then? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below!