School really only serves one purpose: provide a nurturing environment for students to learn. But that singular task seems to grow more herculean for educators every year. Though many parents are generally aware of the challenges teachers face today, it’s still alarming to hear firsthand the full scope of what’s happening.

On the Reddit subforum r/Teachers, teachers were asked to name “something in education no one wants to admit, but we all know is true" and, well…there was no shortage of insight.

Technology (and the resulting well-documented cognitive decline it causes) was a primary source of exasperation.

Young students playing with numbers on a screen. Photo credit: Canva

"Nobody reads anymore…kids have unlimited use of devices."

"Screentime has killed attention spans. Students have horrible handwriting because they never write anything. It's time to close the laptops and get back to pen and paper."

"There's too much screen time in our schools right now. Technology has its place, but districts have gone all-in on 1:1 and iPads in lower grades because of 'keeping up with the Joneses' and how it looks for PR rather than instructional effectiveness. I see this as the next big battleground with parents. New parents I interact with know of the dangers of screentime, and they hate how their kids are getting inundated with it in schools."

"Cellphones are the single largest impediment to childhood development."

A school system in which students are no longer allowed to fail (and therefore actually learn from those failures) was also a recurring theme. Combine that with state testing in grades as early as Pre-K.

"The fact that teachers are often held more responsible for students failing than the students is ridiculous."

"We need to let kids fail and not graduate without punishing schools for several years to do a hard reset on our education system. The social pressure of failing works. We just have to hold the standard from K-12."

"Allowing one student to ruin the learning of an entire class should never be allowed."

Many warned that, despite certain statistics reporting suspension and other forms of punishment were going down, bad behavior is still very prevalent.

A male student causing trouble in the classroom with a paper airplane. Photo credit: Canva

"Administrators care much more about keeping parents happy than they do about supporting teachers or keeping disruptive kids out of classrooms."

"Not allowing kids to have consequences is going to lead to a generational crisis."

"Just because suspensions are down doesn’t mean behaviors have improved."

"I was at a school where they said at a staff meeting as a 'celebration' that office referrals were down. A teacher who DNGAF proceeded to respond, 'Well yes, because you took away the online referral form and it took you three weeks to give us a new paper form.'"

"Kids who continue to disrupt classrooms should be expelled, leaving only the kids who want to learn. Kids have a right to an education until they disrupt other kids’ ability to receive it. Throwing out the bottom 10 percent of problem behaviors would almost certainly increase the speed at which material can be covered, resulting in those kids getting wider and deeper opportunities."

Many could not hold back their frustration with the lack of support not only from the school system, but from parents.

A frustrated teacher with her head in her hands. Photo credit: Canva

"We are lying to the parents and community. We are producing illiterates by the bushel, and no one is addressing the issue."

"Some parents seem to think kids magically learn things as they age. This issue goes hand in hand with all the kindergartens still not potty trained or the preschoolers who can barely talk."

A couple called out the not-so-obvious ways the education system is being exploited for capital gain.

"A few years in a classroom isn’t enough to become an administrator. There should be a minimum of 10 years in a classroom before you're allowed to become even an assistant principal, let alone more than that."

"The real money in education is selling programs to schools. There is an entire parasitic class of grifters, 'entrepreneurs,' and 'thought leaders' that do nothing but go around giving speeches about how if you just buy this book/program/trademarked strategy, all your students will behave and start paying attention."

And yet, on a slightly bright note, there were plenty who offered some tough-love takes on why teaching need not be entertainment, and how the classic methods still work just fine.

A teacher lecturing.Photo credit: Canva

"Sometimes shit is boring, and that’s okay. Most of life is boring. I'm not a cruise director, I'm trying to teach about the Ottoman Empire."

"Lecture is okay in the classroom. Not every single minute and activity needs to be exciting and action-packed. Kids need to learn the background or reasoning behind a lesson before applying it. They're also going to need to learn to take notes if they go to college."

"'Gamifying lessons' just feeds into the instant gratification bullshit of iPad kids."

"Omg yes this. I've gotten back into education through subbing, and often it means just putting the students on whatever gameified version of education is expected of them. They often just get frustrated and let the game time out or give them the correct answer if they are even mildly frustrated by the problem."

"Rote memorization is a better way to learn things like math facts and vocabulary words than whatever the latest trendy method is at the moment."

"I'm taking French right now, and no matter what the chosen method (vocab and grammar lists, listening to lessons, etc., etc.), in the end every single method revolves around repetition (aka beating it into your head)."

And lastly, this one really hit the nail on the head…

"Every issue that exists in public schools is a microcosm of the issues that exist in society in general, and until society fixes itself, the things that are broken about the system won't get better."

That’s probably the hardest truth of all.

UPS drivers are always on the grind delivering packages around the clock—even on holidays. And one family took notice of the hard-working UPS driver in their neighborhood who had his nose to the grindstone as they enjoyed a cookout together. Rather than simply let him pass by, they decided to flag him down and extend an invite to join them in a move that proved community and hospitality are still alive and well.

TikToker @1fanto shared a touching video with his followers from Easter weekend where his family invited a UPS driver making rounds in their neighborhood to come to their cookout and 'make a plate.'

"Everybody family around here 😭," he captioned the video. "Everybody invited to the cookout.😂"

Everybody family around here 😭 #easter #cookout #wherethefunction

In the video, the UPS driver is seen standing in the family's driveway, and a group of cookout attendees warmly welcome him to join them. The uncle of @1fanto says to the driver, "You've been working hard all day man, you can go on in there!" He calls out for a woman named Stephanie to "take care of him!"

The UPS driver walks up the driveway, and they encourage him to go inside and get his fill as he enters the garage. After securing a plate of food and a drink, the driver walks back outside to mingle with guests, shaking hands with the uncle who invited him.

"You good?" the uncle asks, and the driver responds, "Yeah I'm good. They hooked me up. Thank you so much. Appreciate y'all for inviting me out." On his way back to his truck, the uncle encourages the driver to invite other workers to stop by as well.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

In a follow up video, @1fanto explained more about how the invite went down. He shares that the UPS driver was driving by the family's house on the Saturday before Easter, and at the time the family was enjoying a big fish fry cookout together. His uncle........

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