It’s no secret that the current American education system is overcrowded and underfunded. Many teachers are spread thin and reaching their wits end, though many still remain in their vocation for the genuine love of their jobs and the desire to make a positive impact.

What is your perception of teachers? Did you have any that changed you for the better? One person recently inquired with Reddit about the current working state of education workers in the US, and many provided brutally honest yet earnest answers. Here’s what they said.

Workers in the Education industry, or even in general, please explain

17 year old here, apologies if this is the wrong place, but I wanted to get some perspective, as my own teachers were blocked by school rules for discussing their personal beliefs.

Recently I had to work as an education assistant for a week long camp, earning service hours.

Unpaid, ofc.

Sounds like a great opportunity for teens to get some valuable work experience.

I… did not have a blast.

Now, little kids are fun to deal with but I’m sure all can understand that working with them all day can get exhausting.

And I only worked for a week, so I was wondering…

This ought to be good…

Is that, times of course all the days they work, what I and other students put my teachers through all the time?

No wonder they seem so burnt out.

I did have some help but we had so many kids to deal with… some were a bit older and got into fights!

Disappointing, but sadly not surprising.

Had to break them up, but man, was that annoying.

And of course once I got home I had to work off time as well, for no service hours.

I… did not get much sleep those nights.

Seems like this kid is beginning to ask some pretty important big picture questions.

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Let’s see how the good people of Reddit responded to them.

To their credit, the comments provided some valuable perspective.

And provided some big picture comparisons.

Others commended the original poster for their efforts.

All things considered, a lot of nuance was shown.

And some folks left some valuable food for thought.

They really are the unsung heroes of the workforce.

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