“All of these teaching aides start calling me Fat Amy and Goodwill Sleepytimeghee.”

I'm an Associate Editor on BuzzFeed's Pop Culture team who spends my days fangirling over all my favorite TV shows and movies.

Some submissions include topics like suicide, self harm, and sexual harassment.

"My buddy told the principal he would absolutely not sign off on that, and if it was so important to him, to change the grade himself. He then said, 'If you do change it, don't expect to see me back here in September.' Sure enough, the grade got changed, and my buddy packed up his shit and left."

"The principal wanted me to lower my standards (which were exactly the state standards for that class, nothing higher) because 'they didn’t grow up talking about Shakespeare at the dinner table, like you.' Umm, neither of my parents graduated from high school, so I don’t know why he assumed I was in some overeducated household just because I had a few degrees. He was also just a major asshole. He was later demoted from principal back to a teacher because he was terrible.

The students were okay, but I couldn’t stand the other teachers."

"I quit for about a year and a half and went to work at a car manufacturing company. I left there, just wasn't my thing. And now I'm teaching middle school science in a different district."

"But the last straw really had to be when he called my wife a 'fucking bitch' and his punishment was that he didn’t have to go to class next time. Not suspended, not detention, he just got out of that class."

"Also, a 'troubled' student saw me walking from the convenience store with my goddaughter. He followed us and found my house. Started riding by throwing stuff in my yard, yelling obscenities, etc. The school resource officer told me to go to the police; then the police told me to go to him. The final straw was when he climbed on my fence and shot my dog with a paintball gun. I threatened to quit on the spot, so they moved him from my class. Then, over Christmas break, he stabbed and ruined my inflatable decorations. I finished the year and was done."

"The principal only chose to focus on how they were at the start of the year and berated me for having such a terrible class and that I didn't seek help from the teacher they had the year before. The same teacher who nearly quit before Thanksgiving because of them, and whom all my parents had told me they disliked, so why would I seek help from her? A coworker, also a first-year teacher, was given a similarly 'bad' class, but she had a violent student who would throw desks and chairs. The principal *knew* this, and still gave this first-year teacher that class, instead of the other, more experienced teacher who taught the same grade. She also did great things with her class, and at the end of the year, she found out her father had cancer, and the school had fired her. They couldn't afford to increase first-year teachers' salaries in the second year, so they fired all of us."

"It was hard work. Tutoring for every single class that's offered, reporting physical/sexual abuse experienced by students at their homes multiple times, talking a kid out of committing suicide, and learning to level with and work with kids that had severe intellectual and behavioral problems. I had no training. It was really hard. I also spent a lot of my own money on resources and supplies for students who needed them, probably more money than what I made in the first place.

But, despite all of those bad things, I put up with all of it. Hundreds of hours of work for almost no pay, all because I legitimately care about those students. It's a rough school, and they deserve a chance. They deserved people who care about them, structure, and someone willing to take the time to help them succeed. I did it for them because somebody did it for me when I was little.

Then one day, Sandra asks me to substitute-teach a class. I'm not allowed to do that because I don't technically work for the school, that means I can't be alone with students. I also don't have substitute teaching certifications. Sandra gets pissed, walks away angrily, then tells several part-time teaching aides (who actually work for the school and should be covering for the no-show sub) that they have to work overtime, and it's my fault. She also blatantly tells them that they should teach me a lesson. She actually wrote down a list of things she doesn't like about me, mostly related to my appearance and clothes, and gave it to them.

Then over the next two weeks, all of these teaching aides start calling me Fat Amy and Goodwill Sleepytimeghee. They also do that in front of students. Then Sandra starts calling me those names, then some of the students start doing it because they see a teacher doing it. My depression got worse. I went from insomnia due to stress, to insomnia due to stress and humiliation.

That was it. I transferred to a different school for the remainder of my service term (where I basically just sat in an office doing nothing) then I didn't sign up again for the following year."

"Finally, one afternoon, he was screaming at me, throwing chairs, and trying to hurt the other kids. I stood between him and the door for 10 minutes, protecting the other kids, taking punches until help arrived. He ended up assaulting two or three other teachers that day, too.

While this was terrifying and I probably have some sort of PTSD from it, a lot of the reason I’m leaving teaching is the shit admin support I received before and after the event. They cared for half an hour, but nothing was done before, and I wasn’t updated after. I was also left as the sole staff member on the shift with the kid when the assault happened, even though I’d shared my concerns time and time again."

"I have had two principals, six assistant principals, and four additional supervisors in my field. My admin team is changing my schedule because they don't feel my three degrees, 14 certifications in three states, and national certification are enough to qualify me to teach the classes they put me in at the beginning of the year. I will have seven business days to put together maternity plans for my new schedule. I'm finishing out the year, and then I'm done."

"When the last principle requested move #4 in as many years, she packed up the stuff she bought with her own money, packed up the stuff that belonged to the school, and gave her notice.

She gave so much in her 30+ years of teaching, and though her uncompromising principles and high expectations sometimes made her less popular, everything she did was because she cared about the kids and their education. Often and unfortunately more than they did. She would put in hours of work each week to try to make the lessons more accessible to ESL students and kids who had been passed up the system despite not retaining knowledge from past years, just so that their standardized test scores would increase. It’s really a shame. After growing up seeing how much work good teachers put into lesson plans, grading papers, and after-hours tutoring, I do not envy teachers today."

"I get so frustrated when I tell folks that I stopped teaching, and the first comment is that 'those kids can be a nightmare. I get it.' My kids were incredible, and the ones that acted out just needed some one-on-one time to talk through what was going on. So please, don't assume the kids are why teachers quit; the administration and the parents are why I couldn't handle it."

"I feel bad about leaving the public schools, but I don't feel bad about being able to easily provide for my wife and child and not having to spend my free time grading and lesson planning, and my own money on pencils. The profession is at a breaking point, I think it truly needs to break for people to realize that they need to start funding and respecting schools and teachers more than they do."

"I am in my sixth year, and I work 10-12 hours a day and at least one day on the weekend. The majority of this is grading/planning and not actually teaching. I truly enjoy the teaching aspect and building relationships with my students. I promised myself that if I was still working that many hours this far into it that I would do something else. I can't work this much — it's affecting my health. When I get home, I'm too tired to cook, work out, or do anything other than get ready for bed.

The time off doesn't really rejuvenate me. We get two weeks off for winter break. It takes me about two weeks of low activity to cycle out of the work headspace, and then we have to go back. I'm not saying we need more time off, I just don't feel rejuvenated in the way that people would assume when they cite 'all that time off' we get. A lot of the teachers I know desperately need ALL of that time.

Most importantly, I am tired of the assertion by entitled parents that I'm basically a terrible human being who hates children whenever I talk to them — in a non-judgmental way — about concerns I have regarding their kids. I understand that their kids are a sensitive topic, but that doesn't give anyone the right to be verbally abusive. There is no recourse other than ending the meeting, but you still have to work with them/talk to them for the remainder of the year. And if you 'cross' a parent and stick to your guns around doing what you think — based on your professional opinion — is best for the child, the parents will go on a smear campaign. I don't know if you have access to any school Facebook groups, but they can be cesspools. I honestly feel a lot of sympathy for the kids of these parents and try to give them a little extra love because I fear how their parents will react to their kids when they have a difference of opinion once the kids get a little older.

I am broken-hearted that in some of the worst cases, there isn't anything I can do to help kids who can't read at grade-level that will wind up in the system because I simply don't have the resources — and their parents either don't or can't for whatever reason — to intervene.

I knew it would be hard going in. I knew about the long hours, I knew about the behavior concerns, I knew I would have to experience mean/rude parents, but I was not prepared for having to let kids who are two to three grade levels behind move on to the next grade, knowing that they will just fall further and further behind. That is a fucking disservice to those kids, and that is the part I can't let go of.

Now that I'm leaving, I feel guilty because I know that I love my students and, at the very least, work to ensure that every day they know they have a safe place to go."

Responses have been edited for length/clarity.