I know teachers who are among the finest people to walk this earth. And I know that teachers in the US are systemically devalued, gaslit, & emotionally abused.

BUT ALSO I've know lots who enact Bean-Dad-Esque abuse to the dozens of kids held captive in their classes every day

These are standard, systemic practices--encouraged by administrators
--Refusing to let kids go to the bathroom, except during an impossibly short passing period
--Withholding recess from Kindergarteners as punishment for bad behavior
--Not feeding kids b/c of their DEBT

--Tightly restricting their movement for the vast majority of their waking hours to sitting still at a desk, completing written work on paper--even though we know that developmentally children NEED to be moving, running, climbing, exploring, in order to learn!

I was a teaching coach for five years, and I gotta tell you, the vast majority of the time I didn't even get to the point where I could help them with instructional design because of how much work we had to do just getting them to be kinder and treat kids with basic respect.

One of the things I would do would be just to sit in the back of the classroom and tally--on one side the # of criticisms & corrections out of the teachers' mouth--on the other side the # of times they praised someone. No better predictor for how successful a teacher was.

And all these teachers, struggling with behavior management, saying the kids just won't learn, I'm showing them the steps but they just don't care, bad kids. But those teachers? All that ever came out of their mouths was criticism, "no's" "don'ts" and straight-up insults.

And this "figure it out" "sink or swim" type "discovery" style of non-teaching--this was a curricular fad that swept the country in the 90's, and it's been a disaster, particularly for any neurodiverse student who needs to be taught something in a very clear, systematic way.

Maybe what I'm trying to say is that Bean Dad is no aberration. We've pounced on him like he's uniquely monstrous but THIS IS HOW WE TREAT KIDS. Why are schools so toxic? Why is society so toxic? Because we won't take three minutes to show someone how to use a freaking can opener

So if there are teachers & parents unsure why people are outraged here, ask yourself: do you actually TEACH the kids in your care new skills? Or do you just set them tasks, watch them struggle, and then criticize their failures?

And don’t think I’m just blaming teachers & parents. THEIR teachers and parents, bosses, government taught them this bootstraps cruelty. That’s what really trickles down from the top. Why is Bean Dad going viral? Because he echoes Mitch McConnell. You wanna eat? Figure it out.