While watching – and re-watching – a recent Saturday Night Live skit, I was reminded of an observation by the great filmmaker Charlie Chaplin: “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”
The skit in question focused on a group of teachers reviewing the 2023-2024 school year. They shared observations and anecdotes, and then – addressing students – they unanimously concluded, “Y’all won.” The overall message? Students are out of control, teaching has become too difficult, and we give up.
SNL definitely has a long-shot perspective; it captures a broad view of what’s happening in society. I find that some skits land and some really don’t, but this one made me laugh out loud. There were several high points:
• A teacher struggling to make sense of Gen Alpha slang (rizzler, gyatt, Fanum tax)
• A teacher observing of students, “You are on drugs and spectrums that did not even exist in 2006”
• The introduction of a new word (“tsiddahn”) that is already a popular meme on its way to catchphrase status.
Since it aired, the skit has been posted on YouTube and more than 1,500 comments reveal that a lot of teachers found it funny. Very funny. (If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here.)
And yet. When we look at the situations satirized in the skit with a close-up lens, it’s impossible not to see the tragedy. For real teachers dealing with real students in real classrooms, the struggle to keep students engaged and behaving appropriately is exhausting. Debilitating. Soul-crushing.
Just as the comments make it clear that teachers found the skit funny, they also shine a light on the pain beneath the laughter. For starters, although it’s an SNL hallmark to exaggerate for comic effect, a lot of teachers did not think the skit exaggerated anything. Consider these comments:
• “This isn’t a skit; it’s live footage of real teachers.”
• “I like the jokes on SNL, but this new serious documentary style is really interesting.”
• “Every teacher knows how real this is.”
Such comments are sobering enough, but several teachers took it further by asserting that the skit didn’t go far enough:
• “It’s unreal how this skit only scratches the surface.”
• “As a middle-school teacher, this sketch absolutely spoke to me (including the brutal physical attacks I’ve suffered this year in my very, very urban Illinois district).”
• “[The] sad thing is many teachers would love these ‘problems’ — it’s the throwing desks, trashing classrooms, getting stabbed with pencils, punched in the face, etc., that is really endemic to classrooms now.”
And the comment I found most sobering of all: “I know some teachers who have harder days than I do. And I work at a jail.”
Let that sink in a moment.
It would be comforting to just dismiss this as people complaining about their jobs. After all, sometimes that seems to be the national sport. But there are two reasons why we can’t just shrug our shoulders. One, everyone agrees that classroom behavior problems have escalated, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic. (If SNL is doing a skit on problem student behavior, the topic has worked its way into the cultural zeitgeist.) And two, the severity of the problem is prompting teachers to leave their chosen profession. Again, the comments posted on YouTube are telling:
• “I’ve been teaching 11 years, and I resigned this year.”
• “I am retiring this year after 35 years. I just can’t anymore, and I’ve loved my career.”
• “My 14-year high school teaching career will be over in 19 days. If they doubled my salary, I would still be quitting.”
• “I went back to college in my 40s to become a teacher. After almost a year, I couldn’t stand it, they all won.”
• “Just had a conversation with a friend of mine two days ago and it oddly mirrored this sketch. Except it wasn’t funny and she cried a little. First year teacher, so full of hope last year and she’s broken. Dreams dashed upon the rocks of reality.”
• “5 of my son’s teachers quit this school year…. I feel like the kids won.”
These comments are just the tip of a statistical iceberg. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that approximately 300,000 public school teachers and other related staff left the education field between February 2020 and May 2022. The exodus didn’t end then; Statista published a research report stating that 56,000 teachers quit the profession in March of this year. Yes, just in March. And these lost teachers are not easily replaced: In a paper published in March of this year, professors Matthew Kraft (of Brown University) and Melissa Arnold Lyon (of the University of Albany) report that the number of people who earned a teaching license dropped by more than 100,000 since 2006.
How is this OK? It isn’t, of course. We’re in the midst of a crisis. Ask teachers and they’ll tell you that several factors are contributing to the problem: the COVID pandemic, technology and social media, unsupportive administrators, poor parenting, and teaching to tests among them. No wonder it feels overwhelming.
All of these factors warrant separate conversations, and all of them must be addressed. But as that happens, we can’t afford to just give up. The future literally depends on it. We’re not helpless. There is something that we can do right now: We can implement classroom management strategies that have been proven to work in thousands of schools across the country. (And yes, they’re working even in today’s climate.) Effective classroom management won’t solve everything, but it will make a huge difference. What are the benefits? Substantially fewer classroom disruptions. Improved student engagement. Mutual respect. Higher test scores. And – wait for it – greater teacher satisfaction. What are we waiting for?
I’ll close with one final teacher comment posted on YouTube: “I’m a middle school art teacher going on 10 years now. Y’all win the battle, but I’ll be damned if y’all think you’re gonna win the war.”
Amen.
