Things have definitely escalated today. We didn’t have Google maps and other instant-stalking technology when I went to elementary school. Columbine and school shootings hadn’t been a thing yet either (though they would be, later on in my school years.) A lot of modern teacher stresses aren’t applicable to a critique of the elementary school teachers that I had.

Also, I teach kids, specifically special needs students. Violent outbursts aren’t uncommon, we even have blocking pads for those situations. One of my coworkers got a concussion this summer in spite of it. I know it isn’t easy, but I also knew what I was getting into.

It’s one thing to do the best with the situation you’re dealt, but it’s something else to lose your cool and take it out on your students. If I were ever to feel my spark for teaching start to fade, or a resentment of children set in, I’d move onto a different job. That wouldn’t be easy either, but it’d be a hell of a lot more ethical.