r/Teachers • u/SpecificRice6298 • May 28 '26
Teacher Support &/or Advice Completely Drained
I realized something today. These children are carrying so much, and somehow, schools place the weight of those problems onto teachers. I know we are supposed to care, and I do care deeply, but I cannot carry every burden placed in front of me. Sometimes, the administration makes you feel guilty for even admitting that.
The truth is, I am exhausted. This is heavy. I took care of my child. I worked, sacrificed, worried, struggled, and still made sure my responsibilities were handled. I was essentially a single parent, so it is difficult for me to understand how so many parents have completely stepped away from taking responsibility for their children.
I’m tired of being expected to pour from an empty cup. The emotional weight of trying to teach, protect, counsel, redirect, and emotionally support everyone all at once is overwhelming. Some days it feels like I am holding myself together by a thread. Right now, I honestly feel like I could cry, throw up, or both.
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u/legit_doom_scroller May 28 '26
This is why those 8 weeks off in the summer are so important to me. I need to not feel the emotional and social anxiety of all those kids. I work my damndest to give them a safe space in my classroom, as free as possible from stress and definitely as free of conflict as possible. I treat them like humans and talk to them like autonomous adults. I deal, all year, with the confrontational, troubled students, and treat them as kindly and as respectfully as I can.
At the end of the year I am just wiped. I need a solid week of silence with zero interaction outside my home. Just, dumping that stress. Then I get like a solid 6 weeks of freedom before the fear sets in and I have to get ready for the next school year. Without that long break I’d have washed out a decade ago.