By Angelina Li
“Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!” said Americans far and wide last month from May 8th to the 12th.
Even while being severely underpaid, teachers often have to risk their lives to protect their students during such calamities as active shootings and bomb threats. Yet even without these emergencies requiring feats of courage, in everyday life, teachers are and always will be the backbones of society—in fact, the “backbone of our democracy” (ED). Teachers encourage students to thrive both academically and creatively, help build passions, and nurture citizens that will greatly impact the world.
However, not all teachers are glorified, loved, or perhaps even respected. Out of the 3.8 million teachers and counting, indubitably, there are educators that need to be better educated to truly foster the positive and supportive environment students need and deserve (Prosperity).
For certain students, their abysmal experience with their teacher may result in such remarks as the following: “My teacher sucks,” “They don’t even know the material,” or in a more dramatic fashion, “F— teachers.”
“F— teachers!” exclaimed singer Meghan Trainor in a podcast that premiered in April 2023, resulting in an immense backlash, especially from teachers on the social media platform TikTok (NBC News). According to NBC News, while Trainor has apologized and attributed her negative statement to being “bullied by teachers in the past” and that she “‘loves[s]’ and ‘fight[s]’ for teachers,” the traction of her opposition remained extensive.
With more than half a million views, kindergarten teacher Kerregan Calhoun’s TikTok video expressed to the public the frustration teachers have with Trainor’s slander (NBC News). Calhoun stated that “as a teacher who puts so much effort into my job, to be disrespected like that is frustrating. . . . I work so hard to make school a safe and memorable experience for my kids every week” (NBC News).
Calhoun’s sentiment is shared by fellow underpaid educators who are rightfully unsatisfied with the mere tokens of appreciation distributed during the week supposedly commemorating their work. In particular, the work of public school teachers is unique and significant in the sense that they directly impact the future generation with how and what they teach children. Hence, Calhoun’s honest backlash to the singer’s comment is understandably justified.
However, other teachers on TikTok had even harsher responses to the artist, such as second-grade teacher Carina Boltres (NBC News). On her account “misscarinab” with “over 745,000 followers, Boltres claims that she “[does]n’t accept” Trainor’s apology and that she “would love to see the people complaining about teachers do our job for one day” (NBC News).
While in the unofficial dispute of U.S. Teachers vs. Trainor, apologies are not required to be duly accepted by the offended party of educators, Boltres’s comment is notably antagonistic.
Most of society does not deny the value of teachers, as expressed by not only those who came in defense of the party that Trainor once slandered but also the government itself (see US Department of Education). However, what may pose an issue from Boltres’s remark is the notion that because teachers are overworked and underpaid, people should not and cannot give teachers any negative backlash.
This mindset thus perpetuates an idea that those in authority must be wholly obeyed because they have earned their privilege to this position. From the perspectives of those like Trainor, who has faced bullying by teachers, they have a right to complain about the education system. Like any other system in this nation, the education system is not without flaws and can always be improved.
Yet simultaneously, most will understand that Boltres’s comment is dramatic and simply meant to express her valid feelings, much like Trainor’s original statement of “F— teachers.” Most will indeed understand the theme of the importance of empathy that Boltres’s comment revolves around.
The feud between teachers and Trainor ultimately lies in a broader context—the portrayal of educators in the media. With those who have large platforms, like Grammy winner Meghan Trainor, their words have the ability to influence the masses. Trainor has the freedom of speech to criticize (though she has retracted her original negative remark), but her cursing out the general group of teachers as a whole is why people have found her commentary to be problematic. Educators like Calhoun and Boltres simply want to be respected and appreciated for their hard work, and as for any other career, it would be unfair to categorize them with inadequate individuals in the profession.
In conclusion, the media portrayal of teachers ranges from video clips of teachers receiving beautiful handmade gift baskets for Teacher Appreciation Week to teachers giving their testimonies in court regarding yet another active shooting. Other times, the media brings attention to this invaluable group of workers through celebrities and, ultimately, how important it is for people to be able to have their own opinions while maintaining a respectful attitude—if respect is due.
Works Cited
“Elevating Teaching.” Elevating Teaching | U.S. Department of Education, www.ed.gov/teaching#:~:text=Teachers%20are%20the%20backbone%20of,individuals%2C%20and%20strengthening%20informed%20citizens. Accessed 7 June 2023.
Kaur, Brahmjot. “Meghan Trainor Apologized for Dissing Teachers. Some Say They’re Still Upset.” NBCNews.Com, 24 Apr. 2023, www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/meghan-trainor-teacher-apology-backlash-rcna81209.
Parker, Alvin, and Alvin Parker. “How Many Teachers in the US in 2023 (81 Data Statistics).” Prosperity For All, 27 Feb. 2023, www.prosperityforamerica.org/how-many-teachers-in-the-us/.
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