Health Issues among Teachers

Cristina Cunan Valderrama, RN

Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and making specific involvement to help them learn particular things. The role of a teacher is to act as a facilitator of learning. They are occupied in schools with the main purpose of educating the children to grow as good citizens in the world. The rewards that come with a career in teaching are rightly celebrated, but there are significant downsides to being a teacher as well. Although the expectations are often high, the pay is relatively low, and working conditions can be tough.

When compared with the average 9-to-5 work day, some people may assume that teachers are much better off than the rest of the workforce. However, not only do teachers need to arrive at school earlier and stay longer than their students, but they also have to spend a lot of time outside school planning lessons, grading papers and performing many other work-related tasks. This highly affects not only their physical health but also their mental health.

Teachers tend to stand more than usual. Giving lectures, tests and activities often requires standing. This may cause strain in the leg muscles, can cause arthritis or osteoporosis and other problems due to standing for a long period of time. Teachers also often to stay up late for updating their lesson plans, preparing for the next day and planning their creative ways of relaying information to students. This affects their sleeping habits and their eyesight. Teaching can also be highly tiring and stressful especially when they have to compute for grades, finish their deadlines and follow up their daily schedules. Stress and pressure highly affect their mental health.

Not only must teachers take disciplinary actions toward children who are a problem in school, teachers are often compelled to take action when they feel a child is in trouble at home. There are a lot of children who have serious problems in their lives. Poverty, abuse, and many other issues that affect children can become the problems of their teachers. This can be a very sensitive and difficult process. Large class sizes have rendered many teachers incapable of keeping control over their classrooms, and this can be stressful. In the most extreme cases, teachers can be in danger from the violence that affects the community around their schools.

That is why teachers have their vacations, this helps them wind down and relax after their stressful and tiring school year. Exercising could help. This could be one of the only times during the week may help in forgetting about students as well as work. Teachers would sometimes forget their own health because of all of the things they tend to prioritize.

Being a teacher can be both rewarding and frustrating. It’s been said that every teacher is a leader, and for good reason. After all, it takes leadership skills to organize lesson plans, inspire students, keep them on-task and maintain an environment of order and respect.

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The author is Teacher I and School Nurse at Don Jesus Gonzales High School