Being a teacher's kid comes with perks and it comes with faults. Growing up with one or both of your parents being in the education field gives you a different view on your teachers and other educators. Here are just a few things that automatically become a part of your life when you are the child of a teacher:
1. There are no secrets!
It doesn't matter if you failed one of your tests, you skipped class to go hang out with your friends, or you were barely late for class—your parent always finds out. Somehow they always know every single thing that happens to you when you are at school, and it's terrifying how fast they find out. Most of the time they already know what has happened before you even had time to get back to class or make your way to the principal's office.
At the time, it seemed unfair that other students could skip whenever they wanted and never get caught. You might have been jealous of their apparent freedom, but your parent(s) being teachers kept you in line. You stayed out of trouble and did what you had to do to get through school. You may have been called the teacher's pet a few times, but so what? You had a spotless record, and that's a great achievement.
2. Homework and studying become 100 times more important.
When your parents are teachers, not doing your homework is never an option. Also, hiding the fact that you have a test coming up is almost impossible. It's a guaranteed requirement to study. If they expect their students to do their homework and turn it in on time, you better believe they are going to crack down on you and make sure you do every single assignment that is given to you and that you study every day for that test you need to pass.
Despite all those times you just wanted to blow off that 20 question homework assignment or the times you wanted to try and wing it on your test, having strict rules regarding your grades actually helped you in the long run. It gave you good study habits to take with you to college. So in reality, your teacher parents are still helping you get good grades in college. Thanks for that.
3. All of the teachers in your school and all of your parents' coworkers know exactly who you are.
This one is a positive and a negative. Having every teacher in the school know who you are can be good when you are wanting to help out with something or you are wanting to join a club, but it also gets very frustrating, because as I previously stated, there are no secrets. If you ever wonder why you can't get away with things other students can, it's because every single teacher knows your face, your name, and what your parents are expecting from you.
This can really be used to your advantage once you move on from public school. Having a relationship with the teachers at your previous school means you are most likely able to go to them if you are in need of some help with a college assignment or job requirement. Whether it just be asking them the correct way to use MLA-format or asking to use them as a reference, an army of teacher's is an amazing thing to have in your corner.
4. Going to the store with your parents is like you are walking the red carpet.
All you want is to go to Walmart and buy a few things for dinner. You all should be in and out in five minutes, right? Wrong. Your five minute trip to the store turns into an hour of having to stop and talk to every single past and present parent of their students. It doesn't matter if your parent taught their child 10 or more years ago, the parents of said student are obligated to stop you all and fill your parent in on every aspect of their past student's life. Even though this gets frustrating sometimes, it still makes you proud of your parent because of all the wonderful things that are said about them. It's a great feeling when someone speaks so highly of your teacher parent.
5. Everyone automatically expects you to become a teacher, too.
Once you get to your senior year of high school or you have finally declared your college major, you get asked one question more than any other: "So you are going to use that to teach, right?" It doesn't matter what your future aspirations are, people are always going to assume you want to teach. You're majoring in English? Expect to hear that question even more than usual. If you really are going into education, that's wonderful. Schools are always in need of great teachers!
For those of us who don't plan on becoming an educator, it gets tiring answering that question over and over again. Although, it should be taken as a compliment. If someone asks you that, then you obviously inherited a few traits from your parents that make people think you would succeed in education. That's a good thing.
All throughout your time in school, you might have felt like you were being punished for being a teacher's kid. In all honesty, that assumption is way off. You were given so many skills that other kids might have missed out on. You were shown how important your education really is and you completely understand how depressing it is to see our government show so little interest in the education system. You shared a special bond with other teacher's kids, and you have an endless supply of knowledge at your fingertips for when you need help with something.
So thank your teacher parents. They really helped you out during school, and their still helping you out today. They raised you and taught you to be who you are while also teaching dozens of other children every day. That's pretty awesome if you ask me.
