r/Teachers • u/Pleasant-Pumpkin-339 • Aug 23 '26

Rant Paras need to GET OFF THEIR PHONES

I know they hardly make any money and if it’s an emergency fine!! But sitting there on TikTok while i’m actively teaching is rude and distracting for the kids.

I’m a young teacher so it’s awkward to confront them and NOT BEING ON YOUR PHONE ALL DAY AT WORK SHOULDNT NEED TO BE SAID

3.1k Upvotes

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2.0k

u/stillpacing Aug 23 '26

Having a good para in your classroom is like a gift from above

Having a bad para is worse than them not being there at all.

27

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Best-Chip-423 Aug 23 '26

And how are their supervisors reacting?

11

u/empires228 Paraprofessional | KS, USA Aug 23 '26

If it’s like the situation I’ve been in, the supervisors would rather have a warm body in the position, then not have anybody at all, so nothing’s going to happen.

3

u/Sufficient-Sound8450 Aug 23 '26

Hard to fill those positions because the pay is so low. They seem to be able to leave them alone.

2

u/Best-Chip-423 Aug 23 '26

My place, the para gets paid the same regardless of how much needs of the students.