[Closed] Snowflake generation

Ah yes, hide your feelings and pretend all is well. Great advice.

I know exactly how you feel. Gave up teaching in FE many years ago due to the whole set up and the fact that trying to teach kids who had no interest is not good for the soul!

I blame the teachers

Sounds like you're in the wrong job for your temperament and empathy and understanding of children

I’m glad you don’t teach my children, perhaps you should give up teaching your attitude is beyond awful

Gammons seem an awful lot like snowflakes sometimes

What's FE?

I blame global warming for not raising the temperature high enough to melt all the snowflakes away.

You had a car? The luxury! I had to walk 20 miles to school each way. Uphill both ways.

So glad I don’t have kids in your class.

What’s FE?

Failed Empathy.

What’s FE?

I think it means he teaches ironing

So glad I don’t have kids.

So am I.

It's more that they think their problem is everyone else's fault. They have difficulties, just like everyone else. It's not my fault they have an issue. I'm trying to help but grey keep fighting back.

I can't because of my...
No because of my...
It's hard because of my...

Parents then say:
He/she can't because of their...
He/she didn't mean to...
He/she won't be able to...

Doesn't exactly help prepare them for work.

Yes, we're all different and struggle with different things but making excused for EVERYTHING is not the way forward.

FE is 16+

tthew & koromoran 👏

It's nothing to do with a snowflake generation. Kids were the same when I was one.

I think the difference between now and say, the 50s, is that people have realised how shit work is.

You're still not selling your skills as a teacher to me here...

Those that can do those that can’t teach…

I chose to stop working on site because I wanted to try to put something back into my trade and try to help and inspire the next generation of tradespeople because I had such a great learning experience during my apprenticeship.
I spent almost 10 years teaching in FE and due to the current system and very poor clientele I gave it up.
Yes, you’ve guessed it, now back on the tools and really enjoying it as I always have.

OP quit whilst you’re ahead - you really don’t understand children or young adults.
Maybe you should show some empathy…

trying to teach kids who had no interest is not good for the soul!

i think that’s a separate issue.

Bloody hell, glad my son is too little to have to put up with a teacher like you.
Isn't it ironic how if you held a mirror up to many of these whining boomers they would just look like aged, haggard versions of these snowflakes they profess to despise

Maybe you’re just a shit teacher. 😉

Well some kids are like that, but plenty aren’t.
I meet plenty of kids and young adults in my job as a coach driver. Some are arses, no argument, but most are actually fine, reasonably well mannered, and have a fair idea what they’re wanting to do with their life.
I’ve been on the buses for 19 years and I don’t think kids have changed significantly in that time, some need drowning, others youd be proud if they were your own kids.
I think of myself as reasonably well balanced generally.

Lots of opinions from people who have never tried teaching here

I work with children from all backgrounds, and it's a humbling privilege.

I have no doubt that you would never vent like this in front of any of your students, but is there someone at the college you can speak to so these feelings don't get any worse?

OP, suggest you quit FE and find something else to do. Pleased my teenagers do not have a teacher who thinks like you.

Lots of opinions from people who have never tried teaching here

About a teacher who hasn't tried parenting. It cuts both ways.

Jesus lol

Some of my students are great and I have a lot of time for those that put some level of effort in. Those that lie about me or make things up, or go out of their way to make things difficult, won't stand a chance in the real world. I've even had their parents say they give up and can't help them either.

I have some student s who struggle but try. Those that act up are actually very capable, but just want to cause trouble.

Jesus lol

He was meant to have been a good teacher.

"t’s more that they think their problem is everyone else’s fault."

Just like here then...

How long have you been teaching?
Genuine question as I'm wondering if you've noticed a shift in attitudes in say, the last 'x' years.

I hated FE when I was a kid too. Realised it was nothing like the real world. Realised I could do what I wanted now. Realised that most of the people that were “teaching” me had never worked in the industries I was interested in and I’d made a terrible mistake entrusting my future to them.

That was 25 odd years ago. It both terrifies me and comforts me that seemingly nothing has changed.

Genuine question: how long have you been teaching?

11 years. Previous years have been fine and worked with a range of students. Many on the spectrum and learned a lot about how they think. Had parents thanking me for my help and students want to stay for extra year or even come back to help after they graduate. This year though...nightmare. Really don't know what else I can do to help them without them complaining.

Definitely a change in kids attitude in the last 18 months. Not all students though. Some are a delight to work with.

Ironically, all the posters criticising the OP for the lack of empathy are themselves displaying exactly what they decry in the OP, thus marking themselves out as exactly the sort of narrow-minded "my kid's always right" bedwetters who produce the sort of entitled "it's not my fault" snowflake kids that the OP is complaining about. 🙂

Mrs Pondo's school is in a 'nice' area - over the last couple of years they have turned feral, and discipline has become a major issue.

About a teacher who hasn’t tried parenting. It cuts both ways.

A teacher's role is not to parent.

Ironically, all the posters criticising the OP for the lack of empathy are themselves displaying exactly what they decry in the OP, thus marking themselves out as exactly the sort of narrow-minded “my kid’s always right” bedwetters who produce the sort of entitled “it’s not my fault” snowflake kids that the OP is complaining about. 🙂

Mrs Pondo’s school is in a ‘nice’ area – over the last couple of years they have turned feral, and discipline has become a mjor issue.

Thank you. That pretty much sums it up.

Definitely a change in kids attitude in the last 18 months. Not all students though. Some are a delight to work with.

I’d agree, but extend it to adults equally.

A teacher’s role is not to parent.

Thank you! All the parents are probably moaning right now but it's true. I'm not their parent. My job is to prepare them for the industry that I have and do work in.

Probably worth mentioning that kids have had a pretty rough deal over the last couple of years. Interesting that discipline has gone downhill, considering the amount of time they've spent at home, eh?

One of my jobs is dealing with complaints and it's been interesting that 75% of the ones I'm currently dealing with are blokes around 55 years old. The sense of entitlement and whining from them is something to behold. I'm only 10 years behind, hoping that I don't get like that.

So you're saying that the young adults you've seen in the last 18 months or so have seemed markedly different to those that have come before them?
I mean, correlation != Causation, but something pretty major has happened in their lives during that period.

is it my imagination, or are the members who start threads about snowflakes always “free members”?

likewise, the ones with more right wing opinions.

it’s just a thought.

is there someone at the college you can speak to so these feelings don’t get any worse?

Easily the most useful comment of the thread so far.

FWIW most kids I've had any contact with have behaved like ****ing heroes over the last 2 years. There's no demographic that's accepted so much disruption to their lives at an age when it really matters, while being the group least at risk.

discipline has become a major issue.

In my final year of teaching I had one particular student given 10 final warnings for behaviour by my line manager.
I had followed all the college’s processes and completed the paper trail with due diligence but because of how the system is set up, the student is untouchable.
Once a few more in your group work this out you have problems.

I’ve been mentoring undergrads, grads and apprentices for 10 years. They’re as variable now as they were a decade ago.

hus marking themselves out as exactly the sort of narrow-minded “my kid’s always right” bedwetters who produce the sort of entitled “it’s not my fault” snowflake kids that the OP is complaining about.

Yeah no.

My wife works in an FE college dealing with students and is full of praise for most of them. They care about the world, and many of them have come through serious hardship with remarkable courage, discipline and tenacity. So maybe it's just that the OP's college is full of crap students.

At their age, I had 2 part time jobs to pay for my car and took full responsibility for my education.

And it made you the fully rounded individual you are today. Am I right?

all the posters criticising the OP for the lack of empathy

Its more that the OP is a teacher who is encouraging parents, in fact pleading with them, to physically and verbally assault their children that gets me.

If their employer read that and knew who they were I'd suggest they could be facing disciplinary proceedings.

A teacher’s role is not to parent

In this case, the teacher is inviting parents to assault their children. So I would be very pleased indeed if they're doing no parenting.

There was a post a few days ago about how this whole place is less fun than it used to be.

This thread is really illustrative.

Maybe a (relatively) anonymous mini-rant on the internet is just what a disgruntled teacher needs to do to vent a little. No students are harmed in the posting of that OP.

A little humour and equally anonymous fun-poking would once have been the immediate response. What we got today was wholesale piling-on, which I suspect isn’t helpful & certainly isn’t as much fun. I don’t have much else to add, other than to wish the OP the best. And his students too - things have been weird the last however long.

You sound some of the **** teachers I had, who were horrible when I said I couldn’t do something. I was called thick, childish and were like some of patients in the mental hospital our house was in the grounds of. Teachers should be supportive not negative, there were rare when I was at school. I hated school, it didn’t help me towards my exams being told shit like that. Everyone has troubles yes, it your job to listen and support them and offer guidance.

It made me work for the things I need or want. I don't just expect people to do it for me.

I've just watched a Dan Pena video thanks to this thread.

Like I said, I have a lot of time for those that try. Whether they struggle with reading and writing or are top of their class, I have a lot of time for them. There just seems to be a lot who won't try, no matter who offers help. I never raise my voice at them or make negative comments. Some still thank me for my help. Loads just can't be bothered and openly say they have no interest.

I think it means he teaches ironing

Beautifully done sir 🙂

I hear you OP, I don’t understand them. I’m nearly 50 and have grafted and had knockbacks and problems to resolve. I’ve got about 100 staff who are under 25 and the generation have a different set of expectations and don’t work to survive, they work on their terms for their lifestyle. I struggle with it and could probably have written the same thing 😂 I’m not right and neither are they but fark me it can be bewildering when someone with no experience or desire to further themselves is demanding things that only they can do themselves. There are as always exceptions. But things have changed for sure !

Its more that the OP is a teacher who is encouraging parents, in fact pleading with them, to physically and verbally assault their children that gets me.

In this case, the teacher is inviting parents to assault their children. So I would be very pleased indeed if they’re doing no parenting.

You've got to be quite a high percentage snowflake to choose to think that a serious suggestion. And it IS a choice you're making.

What we got today was wholesale piling-on,

We got someone slagging off the young people in their care. I don't find that "fun" or "helpful".

It made me work for the things I need or want.

You need to work for the respect of your students it seems, not expect to have it handed to you.

I agree this is a bit of a pile on which is never nice but what did the OP expect exactly? It's borderline trolling anyway.

I think kids have had a particularly shit time of this pandemic and as above they have had the least danger from it. Slagging them off in a generalised way is not ok really.

Teachers should be supportive not negative, there were rare when I was at school. I hated school, it didn’t help me towards my exams being told shit like that. Everyone has troubles yes, it your job to listen and support them and offer guidance.

I don't disagree with that, but it also needs the children to work and their parents to support them. No teacher can just get you a grade if you don't put any effort in yourself.

You’ve got to be quite a high percentage snowflake to choose to think that a serious suggestion. And it IS a choice you’re making.

Oh, I think it was quite revealing about the lack of respect the OP has. That you choose to defend it says quite a bit about you.

You’ve got to be quite a high percentage snowflake to choose to think that a serious suggestion.

100%. But why would you choose to post it here of all places!?

You need to work for the respect of your students it does, not expect to have it handed to you.

Really, you're speaking from a position of ignorance there, if you don't mind me saying.

If you have a teenage kid and they’re a snowflake

Sorry. Rant from a FE teacher.

If you refer to a teenager as a 'snowflake' then that says more about you than about them. Maybe they'd fare better if they weren't being tutored by someone who thought that was an acceptable description of their wards?

Definitely a change in kids attitude in the last 18 months.

I cannot possibly imagine anything which might've happened in the world that could have changed attitudes in the last 18 months.

100%. But why would you choose to post it here of all places!?

It's a rant, sometimes that happens. Ask me what I'd like to do to Boris Johnson. 🙂

There are people I don’t understand either. I don’t use terms like “kick them in the face” when I’m frustrated by the differences between them and myself though. I’m a man in my forties, the world has changed since I was at sixth form, I don’t get it all, who does? Getting older is like that for EVERY generation. And there has always been people lashing out at younger people they have to deal with. It’s nothing new.

You’ve got to be quite a high percentage snowflake to choose to think that a serious

Just like when drivers joke about running over cyclists. Just good BANTS innit.

Whether they struggle with reading and writing or are top of their class, I have a lot of time for them.

Bullshit you do because

Loads just can’t be bothered and openly say they have no interest

they're the ones who need your help the most.

Oh, I think it was quite revealing about the lack of respect the OP has. That you choose to defend it says quite a bit about you.

Your biggest problem about thinking it's insightful is that you lack insight into teaching. Therefore your passive aggression is worth no more than your snowflake opinion - do be careful getting off a horse that high, though. 🙂

I would like to point out that I am the parent of two teenagers, one who is currently in FE. I would be horrified if a teacher of either of my kids proposed what the OP has asked but it was very obvious to me that the comments were very much tongue in cheek and having worked with this age group, knew exactly where they were coming from.
A lot of very good people work in trying to provide a better future for our youngsters but at times it can be very frustrating. I would like to think that venting on a cycling forum should not result in a professional slating.

Really, you’re speaking from a position of ignorance there, if you don’t mind me saying.

I don't mind you saying, but how would you know I'm speaking from a position of ignorance?

As a former Childline counselor I don't find such aggressive language towards children acceptable at all. Especially from someone who works with children.

As a former teacher I don't find it appropriate at all for another teacher to post such an aggressive comment on social media.

Sorry if that makes me a snowflake also...

Your biggest problem about thinking it’s insightful is that you lack insight into teaching. Therefore your passive aggression is worth no more than your snowflake opinion – do be careful getting off a horse that high, though.

Your problem is presuming to know what I may or may not find insightful. But do keep the insults coming - they are very helpful in confirming what I suspected.

Oh, I think it was quite revealing about the lack of respect the OP has. That you choose to defend it says quite a bit about you.

Chalk me up for the "defending the OP" group please.
It was just a rant. He's fed up he's stressed, he's letting out his frustrations on people that it will ( should) have no lasting negative effect on.
Give him a break and stop being a sno.... so precious.

TBF there are plenty of kids at FE colleges who are there because they've been encouraged to go but don't really have any enthusiasm for what they're doing, but who's fault is that?

Just the other day there was a thread from someone saying their kid wouldn't be allowed not to go to uni by their mum who has 3 degrees. Great.

Whether they struggle with reading and writing or are top of their class, I have a lot of time for them.

Bullshit you do because

Loads just can’t be bothered and openly say they have no interest

they’re the ones who need your help the most.

How do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped, when there's another 29 kids in the class you're just as obligated to?

30 kids in an FE class?