"It's Heart Wrenching" — Ballet Teacher Calls Out Parents for Kids' Bad Behavior
Published Nov. 28 2023, 12:22 p.m. ET
A ballet teacher is calling out parents for being more interested in social media than raising respectful children.
This young instructor doesn't hold back and specifically addresses how her 5-year-old students are behaving in ways that aren't only rude, but also without consequences from their parents.
The TikTok creator (@saaaaaaaii1) says that teaching today's kids has traumatized her, especially when it comes to the wildly inappropriate music they request in class.
The little girls in ballet class act badly — but their parents act worse, according to this teacher.
"I teach 5-year-olds ballet," this fed-up creator says in her viral TikTok, going on to claim the kids don't respect authority and often tell her to "shut up."
"You don't get to tell me what to do. You're not my mom," they tell her.
And according to the teacher, the parents are even worse. One mom told the teacher that her daughter just didn't want to sit in the spot she was asked to sit in. Another mom justified her daughter hitting another student.
"What world do we live in?" the creator demands next, challenging the mindset of parents who think their kid doesn't have to listen to instructions in a classroom setting. "It's sad," she concludes emphatically.
But she isn't done taking parents to task and calls out another "heartwrenching" and "horrifying" behavior she has witnessed in the little girls' ballet class.
Little girls are being influenced by music that robs their innocence, according to the creator.
"Your 5-year-old daughters are asking to listen to 'Pound Town,'" the ballet instructor shockingly claims in the next part of her video. She's referring to a song by Sexyy Red and Tay Keith that includes lyrics we can't even print here because they are so NSFW.
While she's trying to get the students to practice their first position to Princess Tiana music, they demand "Pound Town," according to the emotional teacher.
"I don't know what to do," she weeps. "And I'm so scared for these little girls today," she adds, going on to talk about an "insane agenda push" that sees little girls twerking during freeze dance.
"Where is the parenting?" she then demands. "Where's the boundaries?" The teacher then accuses today's parents of hurting their kids instead of helping them.
Clearly, this teacher has been pushed to her limit, and as she admits, at this point, the excuses she hears from parents aren't cutting it.
She goes so far as to blast parents for being more interested in what's going on on their TikTok feeds than being parents. "Be a parent!" she chides everyone on, well, TikTok, where she ironically created this content.
In the end, this teacher is about to quit, and she is at a loss for how to change the disturbing behavior that she sees in kids so young.
In the comments, other TikTok users were mostly equally horrified by what this deeply distressed teacher shared, with many lamenting that her venting session explains why so many teachers are quitting.
As a parent, I have one problem with this share, but I agree parents need to do more to support teachers.
Hi. Parent over here, with a 5-year-old son. I do think this teacher has a lot of valid points. But my one concern with what she says is that she isn't a parent. I'd challenge her to try raising a child and then see how easy it is to get your kid to be perfect all the time. And P.S. — not many kids under the age of 5 have any attention span. Just saying.
My other bone to pick here is this: How does she know that while their kid is in the ballet class is the only time these moms get a break all day, all week, so this is when they're checking their social media? They could be completely attentive at many other moments that she doesn't witness.
That said, I feel for this teacher, and all the others out there who are trying to do right by our kids, and are deeply committed to their jobs. We need more caring teachers like this creator out there, and as parents, we owe to them, and our kids, to provide as much support as we can.