Community Chat

[Mj12]

@ALRATIBA I did not read that thread yet. 

[SaRina]

It should be prohibited. Most teachers do not want gifts, it can put a teacher on the spot, many children's parents/guardians cannot afford it.

[Carmie]

I am not saying that anyone should or not give a teacher a thank you note or small gift,but I have to say that I am surprised to see so many posters who feel that a teacher is just doing his or her job and get paid for it, so no thank you is necessary.

Many of the same posters think nothing of giving their hair stylist,manicurist, delivery men who carry things in and a host of other people tips for service.  Well..... these people get paid too.

I am not a teacher, nor would I want to be.  If you have not spent time in a school lately, you have no idea of what school is like anymore.

Teachers are retiring and leaving the profession in droves.  i can't say that I blame them.  They have to deal with so much more than your teacher did when you were in school.

I am quite opinionated and felt differently about teachers than I do now....being a volunteer at an elementary sure opened my eyes.

If you don't want to say thank you or give a gift, then don't.   Just don't say that they get paid and don't deserve any extra. Most of them deserve far more than we could ever pay them.

[Mz iMac]

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@Peaches McPhee wrote:

Personally, I find the whole thing a relic from another age.  I have no children, so it doesn't affect me.  But, I think that if teachers want to be treated as professionals, they need to stop accepting gifts.  It just does not compute - you don't give gift cards to your doctor or lawyer or your real estate agent.  Why give gifts to your child's teacher?  JMO.

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I did to my neurologist & staff.  The reason was because this neurologist was the only dr who sucessfully managed my migraines through trial & error.

I sent the neurologist (Female) a gift basket of exotic lotions & soap.

I sent the staff a gift basket of exotic jams, jellies, cookies, biscuts, etc.

I wanted to show them how gratful I was for giving me my quality of life back.

[Yardlie]

When I taught, the faculty would keep what they wanted of the gifts they received. The rest of them were brought into the faculty lounge and put on tables. Anyone could help themselves to whatever they chose. There were always so many knick knacks that said "#1 teacher" on them. Nobody chose those. They all went to Goodwill at the end of the school year.

None of us expected to be given gifts. We didn't mean to seem ungrateful, but how many of those knick knacks can one person use? Nobody seemed to take the homemade goodies either as people didn't know how clean the person was who made them...or in this day and age, if someone maybe put something harmful in the cookies, etc. 

[sunshine45]

i grew up during the 60s and 70s and we always gave our homeroom elementary school teachers gifts at christmas and at the end of the year. many times the room mothers would throw parties at both of these times with homemade goodies and also give a  class gift. they would collect money from all of the parents. i dont see why this "tradition" has to end. no one is ever forced to give anything.

we also gave our bus drivers gifts and our music teachers gifts and i continued these traditions with my children. it doesnt have to be anything over the top.

we didnt do it as much in junior high school and high school because we had so many different teachers, but sometimes our favorites got small gifts.

i have heard that teachers really appreciate gift cards to places like michaels, best buy, and walmart so that they can buy items for their classrooms.

[missy1]

I have brought practical teacher gifts. Usually Starbuck's gift cards. $5-$15 range.

A thank you card is appreciated too.

[occasionalrain]

I attended private school; it's true that some parents, especially the new money ones, tried to impress, one up by giving expensive gifts.

My child also attended private school but since I had attended there were now students attending on scholarships whose families could not afford to give gifts, certainly not comparable to those of their wealthier classmates. Therefore, all gifts were prohibited. Of course some gave gifts anyway but they had to be sent to the teacher's home so no one knew who gave or what they gave.

[noodleann]

We never gave our teacher a present, but if I had to deal with this tradition today, I'd skip the junk gifts and even useful things like gift cards and give things like a couple of reams of paper, a dozen good #2 pencils, several packages of pens, rubber bands, paper clips, Post-It notes in useful sizes, and the like. These are things the teacher is going to be expected to have, to supply to students, and which at least in the city schools I know of are in short supply from the Bd of Ed.

But if the teachers are well supplied and well paid, as they are here, nothing is called for. The gift they get is my extortionate property taxes, most of which go to fund the bloated school budget. We pay a great deal of money every year to educate kids who go off to enrich the economies of other cities and states because our local employers don't generate job opportunities with potential for growth. That's not the teachers' faults, but they're already very well paid and supplied. I'd sooner give the clerk at the supermarket a gift card, or the guy who rings up my gas at the quick mart. I know they need it and would appreciate it.

[RedTop]

My teacher daughter receives a few gifts at Christmas, but she has a great group of parents who are in tune to classroom needs and walk in with those items without ever being asked.  

One parent brings breakfast or lunch to my daughter and the classroom aides at least twice a month.  Another student loves pizza, so on days when he doesn't like the school lunch, his mom shows up with pizza and drinks for the class.   My daughter appreciates these gestures more than an individual gift for her.