- American teachers are raising concerns about AI use, literacy, discipline and other pressures affecting their classrooms.
- Hillary Muhalya examines what the educators’ experiences could mean as Kenyan classrooms undergo rapid technological change.
- Their accounts are anecdotal, but raise questions about foundational learning, teacher workload, parental involvement and academic standards.
American teachers are sounding the alarm over a growing list of problems they say are making classrooms increasingly difficult to manage and teaching increasingly frustrating.
From students using artificial intelligence to avoid thinking, to children reaching middle school without adequate reading skills, teachers say they are confronting a changing generation of learners alongside increasingly difficult relationships with parents, administrators and school systems.
The concerns were shared by teachers in the United States in Reddit discussions highlighted by BuzzFeed, with educators asked to identify the “most alarming trends” they had witnessed in their profession.
The responses represent individual educators’ experiences rather than a scientific or nationally representative assessment of American schools, but they reveal concerns about classrooms under pressure.
The problems American teachers are reporting
1. Students are using AI to bypass learning
One of the most prominent concerns is artificial intelligence.
Teachers said some American students are no longer using AI simply to research, brainstorm or improve their work. Instead, they are using it to produce entire essays and solve problems without understanding the answers.
One teacher described students submitting AI-generated essays without even reading what they had turned in.
Another said students simply enter problems into AI and wait for instant solutions rather than developing their own reasoning skills.
The concern is that technology could become a substitute for learning instead of a tool that supports it.
2. Some students are reaching middle school unable to read adequately
American teachers also reported serious concerns about literacy.
One teacher said there were students arriving in middle school who could not read adequately despite having spent their entire schooling in the United States.
This was presented as a particularly worrying development because reading difficulties affect performance across virtually every subject.
3. Classroom discipline is getting harder
Teachers described classroom management as an increasingly serious problem.
One educator said discipline had deteriorated over the past decade to the point where teaching time was being consumed by behavioural problems.
Instead of spending the lesson entirely on the subject, teachers said they were increasingly dealing with disruptions, conflicts and follow-up with parents.
4. American classrooms are overcrowded
Class size was another major concern.
One teacher reported handling 32 fourth-graders and 42 eighth-graders within a two-year period.
The teacher argued that such numbers are difficult to manage even when students are well behaved.
Large classes reduce the amount of individual attention teachers can provide and make classroom management more demanding.
5. Teachers say some parents are undermining discipline
Another recurring complaint concerned parents.
Some teachers said parents increasingly challenge school disciplinary decisions or refuse to hold their children accountable for inappropriate behaviour.
Educators described situations where academic or behavioural problems were blamed on the school rather than addressed jointly by the school and family.
Several teachers argued that children suffer when parents and schools are unable to establish consistent expectations.
6. Teacher-administrator relations are deteriorating
Some American teachers also complained about their relationships with school administrators.
One described teachers as being treated like “interchangeable cogs”, arguing that professional satisfaction was being damaged by a lack of respect and growing pressure to comply.
Others complained about staffing reductions and decisions over how school resources were being allocated.
7. Social media is affecting attention and concentration
Teachers also pointed to the influence of social media and internet platforms.
Some said students struggle to concentrate on longer reading passages or analytical exercises requiring sustained attention.
The concern is that learners accustomed to rapidly changing online content may find extended classroom concentration increasingly difficult.
8. Politicisation is affecting teaching
Some American teachers said political disputes were increasingly influencing what they felt comfortable teaching.
One teacher cited difficulties teaching Nazi Germany because of concerns about how students might connect historical lessons to contemporary American politics.
Another described what they regarded as increasing political pressure within education and academia.
These comments reflect the highly contested political environment surrounding some aspects of American education.
9. Gambling and financial apps are reaching students
A college professor also raised concern about students’ use of gambling and stock-market applications.
The professor said many male students were constantly using such applications and expressed concern about the possible long-term consequences.
10. Grading policies are raising questions about academic standards
Some teachers criticised policies allowing students to repeatedly retake examinations or assignments until they achieve a passing grade.
They argued that such systems can allow students to progress despite significant gaps in knowledge.
Other teachers similarly complained that students were being promoted despite performing substantially below expected grade levels.
From America to Kenya
These are American teachers’ experiences and observations, not a scientific assessment of every school or student in the United States.
But the problems they identify provide a useful lens through which Kenya can examine its own rapidly changing classroom environment.
Kenya is also dealing with questions about foundational literacy, classroom management, teacher workload, parental involvement, technology and the growing use of artificial intelligence.
The circumstances are different, but the central education question is similar: how can schools ensure that technological and social changes strengthen learning instead of weakening the fundamentals?
For Kenyan schools, artificial intelligence is already changing the way learners can complete assignments.
A student can generate an essay, obtain an explanation, solve a mathematical problem or summarise a book almost instantly.
That creates a new challenge for teachers.
The issue is no longer simply detecting whether students have copied from another person. Teachers increasingly have to establish whether the learner actually understands the work submitted.
This could require greater emphasis on supervised writing, oral presentations, classroom discussion, practical work and assessments that require learners to demonstrate their reasoning.
Kenya’s foundational learning question
The American concerns about children reaching middle school with weak reading skills also offer a powerful reminder of the importance of foundational learning in Kenya.
Reading, writing and numeracy remain the building blocks upon which later learning depends.
A learner who cannot comprehend a question may struggle to demonstrate knowledge even when they possess some understanding of the subject.
Kenyan teachers also operate under multiple demands beyond delivering lessons.
They teach, assess, manage behaviour, support individual learners, implement curriculum requirements, complete professional documentation and communicate with parents and administrators.
Where classes are large, those responsibilities become even more demanding.
The American experience therefore provides a warning about what can happen when several pressures converge in the classroom.
The lesson for Kenya
The American teachers’ accounts should not be imported wholesale into Kenya.
But they should not simply be dismissed either.
They raise questions Kenya can confront before similar pressures become more deeply entrenched.
Are learners still developing the ability to think independently? Are they reading deeply enough? Are teachers spending sufficient time teaching rather than managing behaviour? Are parents and schools working together? Are class sizes allowing meaningful individual attention? And is AI being introduced as an educational tool without allowing it to become a substitute for learning?
The classroom of the future will be increasingly influenced by technology.
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The challenge for Kenya will be ensuring that technology changes the tools of education without changing the fundamental purpose of education: producing learners who can read, write, reason, communicate, solve problems and think independently.
Source: BuzzFeed (United States), based on responses from teachers on Reddit.
By Hillary Muhalya
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