1) When lockdown began in March, and people realised how difficult teaching their own children is, or indeed how difficult being around their own kids 24/7 is, teachers were lauded. “I can’t wait for schools to reopen”. “OMG I don’t know where you teachers get the patience to do

2) this everyday”. “Teachers deserve a pay rise for putting up with my kid” etc... We didn’t just stop teaching in March. I spent 3 months working 12-14 hour days prepping & correcting work, giving feedback, answering queries, getting 4am emails from students who were struggling

3) to cope with lockdown and studying from home etc. It was exhausting. I worked for years before going back to education to train as a teacher, and I’ve never felt tiredness like this before. My eyes & head & back ached. I worried about my students, they worried about me

4) Emails were sent back & forth always with the message to “stay safe”. I love my job. The interview process is tough, the re-interviewing for your own job process is soul destroying, the shitty contracts mean not being able to get a mortgage, or start a family, or save.

5) I earn €100 per week more now than I did aged 19 in 2006 in a call centre. I didn’t enter the profession on a whim. I worked hard until I had enough money saved to return to college at the age of 25. I commuted 4hrs a day. I lived off Tesco 11cent noodles. Some days I had to

6) miss college cos I didn’t have the bus fare.Getting my teaching degree was the toughest thing I’ve ever done.I’m one of the lucky ones,I got my CID (contract of indefinite duration) after being in the same school for 3yrs.I spend my days,my time off,weekends, prepping&planning

7) and correcting. It’s fucking hard. But I love my job. I’m not in it for money, I would literally be better off in my old job if it was still there. I don’t get paid for holidays as some ppl seem to think?(As I have CID I get paid for 9mths which is spread pro rata over 12mths)

When I was on a maternity contract my first year out I didn’t get paid at Christmas, Easter or summer. I used to commute 170km round trip before I got a school closer to home. I live in a mobile home. I’m not rich. I’m working class. I put myself through college and everything I

9) have achieved is from sheer determination & hard work.
Since about April,all I’ve read online about teachers is we’re lazy, paid too much, get too many holidays. On top of the anxiety around keeping loved ones safe while a virus raged through our country, I became increasingly

10) down over my career. Is that really what everyone thought of me, that I’m sat at home drinking wine every evening, loving life? Jesus, I worried about your kids, about their physical and mental health, about their exams. I cried. I had panic attacks. And I naively thought

11) the virus would be under control by September. When it became clear it wasn’t, I naively thought online learning would continue. Then it was decided schools would reopen, even though cases were on the rise. Desperately waiting for guidance or some semblance of a plan from

12) this omnishambles of a government, yet all we got was a Minister for Ed who was nowhere to be seen. I know the staff in my school worked their asses off to make the school as safe as possible, with zero help from the Department. I bought my own masks as PPE, along with

13) sanitizers & disinfectant wipes which were in short supply. I looked at the rooms in horror, wondering how my 30 6th years would fit into the room (spoiler alert, they don’t,some are elbow to elbow). I cried with frustration & anger for these kids,that years of underfunding

14) from the government meant their lives were now in danger in classes not fit for purpose. I have severe asthma. I worry all day every day when a student is too close. I teach 6 x 1 hour periods per day, so I come into close contact with about 150-180 students. Plus staff.

15) I’m terrified I’ll get the virus & leave my husband a widower after a year of marriage. I don’t see my family anymore in case I carry the disease from a classroom to my vulnerable Mam or sister. I listen to Govt lies about kids not getting the virus, while 120 schools now

16) have cases after being open only 3 weeks. I effectively work in a Petri dish. Cases in my school are inevitable. But those FFFG fucks made such a song & dance about schools reopening that now they won’t back down, even though they can see the dangers of keeping them open.

17) Please don’t be under any illusion it’s because they care about your child’s education. They don’t want the economy suffering, your kids are being fucked into unsafe environments 5 days a week so we can babysit them, so you can go to work and keep paying taxes & ensure every

18) golfing blueshirt fucker in this country gets their pay rise and government car. When we dare to complain about safety we’re told to shut up & get on with it. My hairdresser takes one client at a time, and govt plans for hairdressers reopening had more thought put into it

19) than schools with 30 to a tiny room. So I’m done with the teacher bashing. People think we should be put on PUP. Grand so. I’ll happily live off slightly less than what I’m currently on if it means my family & I are kept safe. If it’s my job or my life then I choose my life

20) This government is forcing me to choose, so I choose to be safe. I can teach online from home and do my best to ensure your kids are educated, or I can simply stop teaching altogether and get PUP. Let parents mind & teach their own kids. It seems to be what people are

21) crying out for - for teachers to shut the fuck up. I say again, I love my job. But not enough to lose my life or risk my family. I’m not a healthcare worker cos I’m high risk. I’m not a “frontline” worker, I chose not to be. I’m someone who teaches poetry & drama & film and

22) endeavours to instil confidence & empathy in your children. You need patience, understanding & a good worth ethic to be a good teacher. But it’s a job, not a vocation. I’m not a priest. If I die next week from covid, there will literally be more people in my English class

23) every hour than would be allowed to attend my funeral. That’s incomprehensible. It’s time to push back. I’m done with the abuse and the media and the vitriol that’s thrown at my profession. I refuse to be cannon fodder for this Tory government. So should you.