Being a teacher is a calling.
It is not for the meek or weak of heart.
Teachers face daily heartbreak and struggles.
So many children have tragic lives.
And most teachers can only do their best to blunt the pain.
It's often not enough.
But they persist.
All the while, they continue teaching the facts of life.
How do they do it?
Redditor ceazecab wanted to hear from the teachers out there who feel capable of sharing;
"Teacher of Reddit, what’s a question a child asked in class, that absolutely broke your heart?"
FAMILY
"Early 2000s. A third-grade student asks 'Will you be my Dad?' I later learned that he was in foster care and that it wasn’t going well."
- Jabez77
"One of my first graders was sad and kind of crying one day earlier this year. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he wished I could be his mom. It made me tear up."
- userdoesnotexist22
Sad Michael Scott GIF Giphy
Good Eats
"I worked at a special ed preschool. The four-year-old boy had missed a week of school. We found out he had pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital. When he came back to school, he asked me, 'Did you know that when you’re in the hospital you can eat and eat until you’re full?' I knew his family struggled financially, as most of our students’ families did. But hearing him say that really broke me up."
"I started sending him home with extra food as often as I could."
- Lastofherkind
Hey Daddy!
"I was reading a book where a mouse runs away from his family, and after he ran away, there was a line about 'There’s not a daddy to play with me.' One girl kinda burst out laughing and said 'Daddies don’t play!' I quickly redirected before some other kid could say 'My daddy plays with me.' Another time I had a kid say 'We just moved into a new house with a new daddy.' The home lives these kids have breaks my heart."
- smileglysdi
So Sad
"They're always asking for food, but one kid said he didn't eat for three days straight, and it just broke my heart."
- MsMissMom
"Thank God in CA, there’s free food at K-12 public schools, and kids can take home leftovers. School Meals for All program. It would absolutely break me to teach hungry kids."
- Squeaky_sun
"Not a teacher but years ago as a PTA volunteer I encountered a child who arrived late to school, a bit disheveled, and was sassy and rude to the adults at whatever PTA event we were running at the time. It seemed out of character, so I asked her when she last ate. Lunch service wasn’t ready yet, but the good folks in the cafeteria kitchen scrounged up something for her."
"The next time I saw her she gave me the biggest hug, and I’m tearing up just thinking about it."
- SpecialComplex5249
Baby...
"I was doing eye exams at a school, kindergartners. This little girl was next, and I asked her to read the chart, but she couldn't. We tried both eyes and distance, and I did everything. I looked at her, and she smiled back at me with the sweetest tenderest smile, and I said, 'Baby, you haven't been able to see anything the teacher has shown you and nobody picked up on it, how was that?"
- Late-Chip-5890
No Apologies
"I've had some real heart-wrenching situations with students, but not so much about things that they said. Also, I teach high school, and they hide a lot more. So the one that cut me the most was a student I had this past year who was autistic. Whenever he would email me or ask me questions about irregular school day activities, he would apologize profusely for bothering me."
"I told him time and time again that he wasn't bothering me and had no reason to apologize, but I also know that it was something lodged in his brain that he would have to overcome on his own."
- Facetious_Fae•
Robin Williams Thank You GIF Giphy
I See You
"I’m a teaching assistant, but earlier this year, there was a kid I was working with who was a problem kid - anger issues, refusal to work, blah blah. He was about 14. We bonded over the both of us liking metal music, and I would give him recommendations. I was unfortunately removed from that school because agency work sucks, but the DAY I was removed, he very quietly said 'I hope you’re here long term, you’re the only person who doesn’t look at me and see a failure.'”
"I hope he listens to the bands I showed him and knows that there’s someone in his corner. That school is no good for him, they just see him as trouble."
- unneuf
The Lost
"I worked with recent immigrants and refugees. I told my students that I would be moving to Japan the next year, and the next day, one student asked me, 'Do you know about the lost generation?'”
"He asked me a few more questions about some of the downsides of living in Japan. Come to find out he had spent hours researching Japan and wanted me to know about every facet. He told me he knew nothing about America when he was made to move here and was terrified of the country and its people, so he wanted me to be prepared when I moved. I cried in my car."
- kylablythe1
So Caring
"An 11-year-old kid said, 'You don’t even know me- how can you care about someone you don’t even know?' He’s the saddest kid- who is so hard on himself and doesn’t have many close friends. You can tell he gets no love at home. You just want to adopt them all breaks your heart in half."
- GinaTRex
LIBBY
"When I taught prek-3, had a little girl who would go on this wild, screaming tantrums, yelling, among other things, 'I hate you, I hate you.'"
"One day, I hit the end of my rope and said 'Libby, I love you.'"
"It stopped her cold in her tracks. Freaking 3 years old and being told I love you shocked her so much, she stopped screaming."
- the_owl_syndicate
Once Again
"Not a teacher, but when I was in school, I remember one kid asking the teacher if there was life after death. She said she wasn’t sure, and the kid responded, 'I hope there is because I want to see my sister again.'"
- Mad_Nihilistic_Ghost
"I had a 5-year-old who had recently lost her older brother because he had had a lot of health issues, and he died very young. She frequently talked about her baby brother and her big brother in the sky."
- coffeecatmint
Home Life
"I was a day camp counselor for 3-4 year olds. This girl accidentally knocked over her water bottle, and it spilled everywhere. She immediately started sobbing, terrified. I helped her calm down and explained that it was okay, she didn’t do anything wrong. She made a little mistake, but there’s an easy way to fix it. I took her over to the paper towel dispenser, and we cleaned it up together. "
"The next day, the same thing happened, but she didn’t cry as much and I told her mom she needed a better water bottle (it was not replaced). A couple of days later, it happened again, but the girl didn’t cry. She just went up to me and told me she needed some paper towels."
"Pretty sure she gets yelled at for every mistake she makes at home."
- desireeevergreen
Sad Truths
"No question but I stood before class very briefly years ago and a young girl wanted to tell me how her weekend went. She said they planned to go to a theme park. That's nice. 'Yeah but eventually we didn't go. - Oh why not? - My mom and dad were having another argument.'"
"'Daddy drank too much again and Mum doesn't like that so she was angry at him, and they had a fight so we decided to stay home.'" It was the pure casual way she told the story that broke my heart. She wasn't even disappointed. She didn't even think she was saying something that was not ok. She thought that was just how families were."
- Canisaysomethingtoo
Poor Darling
"I wasn't a question, but I had a toddler tell me that Mommy loved her baby sister the most. I promised her Mommy loved her just as much as a new baby. Mommy just had to spend a lot of time helping the new baby because she couldn't do things like her big sister could. I asked my big sister, 'Do you know who new baby loves most in the whole wide world? You!!' That's cheered her up a bit. We made sure to tell the mom about the conversation so she could reassure the toddler herself that she was loved. Poor darling."
- ComprehensiveGold676
Happy Holidays?
"This wasn't a question, but when my mom was a teacher she said every kid was so excited about Thanksgiving coming up. One kid was like 'I’m not sure what we’re doing' in a sad voice. His parents were going through a divorce. She said she felt so bad for him."
- NoneOfThisMatters_XO
Monsters Inc Hug GIF Giphy
Hold Me
"I teach unaccompanied foreign minors. Generally, they are pretty tough teenage boys. They have experienced a long journey of wandering, strewn with various forms of violence and injustice. They have a very hard, surly shell. After a while together, when trust is established, some just ask for a little innocent hug. Just for a moment, they are children again. Children who haven't seen their mother/father for months or years and who just need a moment of tenderness. Every time it happens, my heart breaks for them."
- Bazardita
Thank goodness for teachers who care.
Great educators don't just impart wisdom.
They also protect and love the children.
It's good to know there are so many of you out there.
Who else has some stories to share?
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
