Lifestyle
Things like early morning recess duty, club sponsorships, and cafeteria duty can pose an unreasonable hardship for breastfeeding mothers or parents of small children on school staff. While this might not go over well with my fellow old-timers, (sorry) we owe it to the younger generation of teachers to take up the slack and support teachers who are new parents.
Okay, maybe we don’t owe it to them, but it certainly seems like the right thing to do–for our co-workers, their little ones, and even for the profession. After all, the more we can make teaching attractive and doable for younger teachers, the better for education as a whole.
1. Let’s volunteer for those less-than-desirable duties.
I am not a morning person, so trust me when I say that I don’t take this admonition lightly. But the only thing worse than early morning duty when you aren’t a morning person is early morning duty when your fellow commuters can’t put on their own shoes or they decide to poop their pants as you are walking out the door. Sometimes, for mothers with young children, getting out of the house early isn’t just stressful–it’s impossible.
2. Make pumping possible!
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employers are required to provide nursing mothers both time and space (not a bathroom) to pump during the work day for a year after a baby is born. Unfortunately, that law only applies to employees who are eligible for overtime–so not teachers. That’s a pretty crappy loophole if you ask me. So, it looks like it’s up to states, individual school districts, and often the teachers themselves to make pumping possible.
How can those of us who don’t have kids or whose children are long-weaned help? We can set up a rotating schedule to cover classes for nursing moms. Obviously, that’s not ideal. We barely have enough time to do what we need to do for our own classes. But until the government or districts require schools to make it possible for moms to breastfeed, we should band together for them–because no woman should have to stop breastfeeding because of a loophole. We can also advocate for a quiet, private spot for pumping (not a bathroom or the nurse’s office.) And we can offer to take lunch duty for nursing moms if they need to pump during that time.
3. Advocate for on-site childcare.
Seriously! Why is this not already a thing? If there is any profession rife with young mothers, it is education. Why are teachers expected to pay (often exorbitant amounts) for someone to care for their children while they teach other people’s kids? Schools should be equipped to support new parents on staff with free or low-cost childcare for teachers and staff. Period. The fact that so few are is a national disgrace.
4. Be a sponsor–or at least a co-sponsor.
I used to work at a high school that required every teacher to sponsor a club and/or take turns being a class sponsor. Most of the time I enjoyed working closely with the kids on special projects and getting to know them outside the classroom. But when sponsorship duties turn into after-hours activities, that could be especially hard on parents with young children. Maybe it’s too much to ask that older teachers take on all the club sponsorships, but we can offer to help out by hosting after-school or evening meetings or traveling with the club if necessary.
5. Be an extra set of hands.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for the parent of a young child is to offer to watch the baby after school while Dad makes a quick run to the store or Mom takes the older kids to ball practice. Don’t be shy about reaching out to the young parents in your building and offering to lend a hand. Teachers who don’t have family nearby are likely to be especially grateful.
In a perfect world, less would be expected of all teachers, and young parents wouldn’t need older teachers to provide extra support to make teaching and parenting more doable. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Still, we could live in a world where educators watch out for each other and help each other through challenging situations, a world where this generation of educators pays it forward to the next. That’s not perfect. But it sounds pretty great!
