Abram Yospe: Myths and realities about ‘today’s kids’ and their teachers

As a principal and educational leader, I have seen the ways that COVID-19 has unveiled and corrected many educational myths. This has been a single positive from an otherwise dismal couple of months.

Here are four myths I’ve seen debunked by the virus:

1. Myth: “Today’s kids” are lazy and apathetic.

Reality: Our students today are eager to learn, show resilience and grit through hard times and I believe are our most creative generation.

2. Myth: “Today’s kids” hate school and don’t want to be there.

Reality: Students today love being in school for many reasons. They yearn to learn new things, they enjoy their social interactions and, most of all, they love their teachers. The thousands of tears that have been shed by students across the nation after they have realized their school year has come to an unceremonious end is all the proof you need.

3. Myth: Teachers get paid enough or too much.

Reality: How is this even still a question? The angst and frustration parents have felt this past month feels trifling in comparison to the number of students teachers lovingly teach each and every day. The amount of effort and advocacy they give to their students is only amplified by their ability to react and reinvent new digital ways of teaching. No, teachers are not paid nearly their worth. Never has that been more evident than during the pandemic.

4. Myth: Most teachers do not care.

Reality: Just take a look around at what teachers are doing to reach their students. Teachers miss their students. Students miss their teachers. I believe that, more so than in any time in history, teachers care. My teachers have expressed to me heartfelt sorrow and heartbreak at the prospect of not getting to have a proper goodbye with their students. They have expressed anguish at the thought of their struggling students falling even further behind.

The other day we learned that school in Utah has been cancelled for the rest of the year. I have my own senior in high school. My heart hurts for him as he is crushed he won’t be walking on stage to get his diploma or go to senior ball.

He desperately wanted to be able to have just one day back together with his classmates to say goodbye. He wanted to tell his best teachers in person what a difference they have made in his life. Don’t try to tell him that kids don’t like school or that teachers don’t care. His 12 years of public school have taught him otherwise.

If there has been one good thing to come out of this COVID mess, it’s a new appreciation for our schools, teachers and the tenacity of “today’s kids.”

Perhaps someday we can look back at this time as a turning point, a turning point of perspective where we see a generation of clever, innovative kids that overcame a hurdle, and our teachers were given the value and respect they deserve.

Abram Yospe is principal at Columbia Elementary School in West Jordan and has been a teacher and administrator for 16 years.