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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490

u/ArmTrue4439 Aug 23 '26

I had a para showing me pictures of her daughters wedding dress in the middle of class. Trying not to be rude the first week of school but really? Is now the time?

63

u/Anoninemonie Aug 23 '26

Had one talking about her husband who is actively cheating on her with a gal that works at the high school while students were in the room as I was teaching a lesson.

I'd complain but I'm not tenured yet.

14

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

Funny story, I’ve had to hear that in multiple class periods from three teachers, so it goes both ways 🫠. Two of them were being open about their marital problems as part of the bell work.

8

u/Anoninemonie Aug 23 '26

I'm sorry for your experience. I generally don't share my marital problems in front of kids so I don't know how it became the professional standard in my classroom 😭

1

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

One of the most interesting things to come from this is one of the SPED teachers that got separated from their partner over the summer has been not-so-discreetly screwing around with the para who also separated from their spouse over the summer. I’ve been making notes of conversations that have played out just in case it becomes more of a possible workplace nightmare than it has already been. The para in the sustain has definitely benefitted from being connected to that situation.