- Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s obsession with social media, like doomscrolling on TikTok, is making the classroom a living nightmare for some teachers—and driving them to outright quit. While the rise of ChatGPT has promised to revolutionize the field for the better, students may be moving faster than school guidance.
As schools around the country are beginning to let out for the summer, many classrooms may not only find themselves empty of students—but teachers, too.
That’s because for thousands of educators, this year may have been the tipping point on calling it quits, with social media like TikTok and technology like ChatGPT piling stress onto the already overworked and underpaid field.
“Technology is directly contributing to the literacy decrease we are seeing in this country right now,” said one teacher who went viral on TikTok after quitting her high school English teacher job.
“I’m actually leaving the profession. I am quitting. Friday is my last day.”
But she’s not alone. Over half of educators—55%— said in 2022 they were thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had planned. Across the country, over 400,000 teaching positions are either unfilled or are staffed by teachers without proper certification, according to Desiree Carver-Thomas, senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute. But that number is still conservative, she says, with some school districts facing an up to 20% turnover rate.
And while the pandemic put the microscope on teaching—and helped bring some meaningful change, like an increased focus on social-emotional and online learning—teachers continue to face an uphill battle. Not only are they educators, but they’re often de facto therapists, social workers, and guardians—all during the school day, and while metrics show student test scores are at their lowest ever levels.
No sign of relief for teacher shortages
For decades, the world of education has faced struggles retaining top talent. In fact, in 2015, hundreds of headlines highlighted a growing teacher shortage that were facing schools from Washington to Pennsylvania. Then came the pandemic, when the lack of educators became a national issue; one survey revealed that three-fourths of principals said that the number of teaching applicants was not enough.
According to the Learning Policy Institute, 90% of annual teacher vacancies result from teachers leaving their careers, thanks in part to inadequate support, difficult working conditions, and low salaries.
“High turnover negatively impacts student learning and undermines school improvement efforts,” wrote Ryan Saunders and Amy Skinner of LPI. “Schools with frequent teacher turnover see lower student achievement and face higher financial burdens, with teacher turnover costs ranging from $12,000 per teacher in small districts to $25,000 in larger ones.”
But despite education’s ability to be a rewarding profession—by helping to train the next generation of world changers—it remains financially unattractive. Graduates who majored in education end up earning one of the lowest median incomes within five years, according to recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That’s not to mention that many teachers are still paying off thousands of dollars in student loans while spending on average over $600 of their own money on classroom supplies.
“Teachers are more than twice as likely than other working adults to report job-related stress,” Carver-Thomas tells Fortune.
The cell phone impact on the classroom
Cell phones have been in the classroom for decades now. In many cases, cell phones have also been effective research tools for students to access the internet when they may not have Wi-Fi or a computer at home. Plus, they’ve helped young people stay connected with the world and contact people in emergencies.
However, schools have implemented restrictions on when they can be used at school. With 1 in 4 children having a smartphone by age 8, teachers have seen first-hand how young peoples’ attention spans have declined after spending hours scrolling through social media and playing mobile games, not to mention the added teacher stress of enforcing anti-cell phone policies.
“Most of these kids prefer to live on their phones rather than experience real life. Additionally, cellphones are a constant distraction. Many students would get distressed if they couldn’t check their phones frequently,” says Greg Freebury, who taught high school math before quitting and starting his own private tutoring company.
At least eight states have realized the strain cell phones have had in the classroom and on students and taken action to limit their use. However, despite new laws, teachers have found it a near impossible task to enforce a cell phone ban when young people are increasingly addicted.
AI might be teachers’ saving grace, but guidance may be coming too late
The rise of ChatGPT and other generative AI models has given teachers some signs of hope for their overworked school days. The technology has the ability to significantly free up teachers’ time by building lesson plans, grading papers, or explaining concepts to a struggling student. According to McKinsey, teachers could have 20%–40% of their time reallocated to activities that support student learning thanks to AI.
But schools and districts have been slow to provide clear guidance on how to best use it the right way and how students can use it in and outside of the classroom. A recent New Yorker magazine article went viral for highlighting an unspoken reality in higher education: everyone is cheating their way through college, thanks to generative AI. And as the technology becomes more mainstream and advanced, younger students may lean on it more and possibly miss out on the chance to build foundational analytical thinking and writing skills.
At the same time, there needs to be a balance, experts say. While having ChatGPT do students’ homework assignments is not productive to learning, using it properly can be a gamechanger for their future.
“In the age of AI, we must prepare our children for the future—to be AI creators, not just consumers,” over 250 CEOs wrote in a letter sent to lawmakers earlier this month. “A basic foundation in computer science and AI is crucial for helping every student thrive in a technology-driven world. Without it, they risk falling behind.”
