Mental Health Days

 Teaching is a stressful job.  The public thinks teachers only work 9 months a year, have a short day, teach the same thing over and over, teach sweet children with smiling faces. and so on. When I was teaching, and librarian-ing in public schools I frequently heard from parents what an easy job I had.  Even the administrators who should have known better acted as if teachers were lazy slackers sometimes.

But teaching is a stressful job, has always been stressful, but has become increasingly stressful in the past 20 years. I observe that when "testing" came in, teaching got more pressure filled and less fun. I think the same thing is true for the students as for the teachers. I doubt that testing will ever go away. I doubt that the stress will ever really get better.

Think about a job where you can't go to the bathroom when you need to, you hardly get a chance to speak to other adults, where people can yell at you about whatever and you have to maintain a professional attitude.  Every school year in recent memory lessons, standards and requirements have changed.  Days off during the school year and in the 2 month summer are used to update teachers on this years trends.

I could go on and on about test scores and computers and unruly students and lack of respect.  Mostly teachers are evaluated on things that have nothing to do with their connection with students and are measured subjectively.  Teaching is a stressful job.

The pandemic made teaching even more stressful.  Suddenly teachers were on camera and trying to evaluate learning in students that they could only see on a tiny square on a computer.  I was thankful to be retired, so thankful.

This year my old school district is reckoning with the stress of the past two years and giving some mental health days.  The days are the week of Thanksgiving. That is so great.  I am sure that a lot of teachers will appreciate the time to travel or cook for the holiday.  Perhaps it will provide less stress.  Mental health is important.  But, I maintain that being able to use the bathroom when you need to and having the opportunity to speak with other adults in the workplace would go a long way toward mental health.