Dear Dr. Laura,

I have been a teacher for 31 years and have seen massive changes in parents during that time. I got started teaching back in 1982 in what I today term as the "end of the golden years of teaching." Back in the beginning, I had wonderful backup from the parents. I remember one day when a father came to see me. His son had been causing some problems. Because I was still a new teacher then, I honestly thought I should handle the situation on my own. This was back in 1986 or 1987. Because the father caught wind of the problem somehow, he stopped by after school to talk. I don't remember the problem, but I do remember learning a valuable lesson. The dad said, "How can I help you if I don't know there's a problem?" That was the attitude back in the eighties.

Today the situation is different. We have parents who honestly believe their children NEVER lie! If I had a dollar for every time I heard a parent say that to me, I could retire early! The parents are on ME if I call about their child, or discipline them in some fashion. There is to be no discipline and no consequences for poor choices. For example, one day this past year, I timed out one of my fifth graders because he was crawling around on the floor of the classroom. He had taken pins out of my bulletin boards and was sticking them into the carpet. I told the boy that because he was being annoying, he was going to be put in a time out in another classroom so I could have a break. This student's mother demanded her son be given a different teacher the next day! In my day, my mother would have grabbed me by the ponytail and forced me into the classroom to apologize to the teacher if I had EVER caused a teacher to not be able to teach.

Kids today quickly learn that they can do anything to disrupt the day's lessons and are often backed up 100% by Mom and/or Dad, who want to be their child's friend, not their parent. In today's world what is really right is now wrong, and what is really wrong is now right. We also live in a world where the students have all the rights. Principals and school districts fear expensive lawsuits, so we are finding less and less backing from these important people in our profession. Who in the world decided that 5-18 year olds should run the schools? Common sense is out. Poor behavior and disrespect is to be tolerated. And we better have top test scores in this kind of environment!

Dr. Laura, I will likely retire in five years. My question is who will ever want to replace me and all of the other baby boomers who will be leaving classrooms in the next decade? My own children, after seeing the stress I have had to deal with over the years, have no desire to enter this profession. Life is tough in today's classrooms.

Kimber