Interview with an elementary school teacher on the topic: «Have children changed in the last 10 years?»

— Natalia Petrovna, if you compare today’s students with those who came to you ten years ago, have the kids changed?

— In reality, kids are always kids. Ten years ago, they needed love, play, and care. And they need it now. What has changed is perhaps the time period in which they are growing up—their surroundings.

The attitude toward the teacher has also changed. Previously, there was more distance between the child and the instructor. Now, students are freer: they can interrupt, argue, or respond to a critique with, «What did I do wrong?» In my practice, I encountered that less often before.

But ten years is still not a long enough period to claim that the children are completely different. Some changes are noticeable, but the core remains the same.

— What immediately strikes you in daily school life?

— The amount of time the phone takes up. Some kids try to finish everything quickly so they can get it sooner. If phones are allowed during breaks, they immediately pull them out. And then, silence falls.

At the same time, children are diverse. For some, the phone just stays in their backpack so they can call their mother. The child knows how to occupy themselves without it. But some pull out their phones—and they stop hearing anything around them. You call them, or you don’t.

— Has the level of preparation for school changed? Do modern first-graders find the initial lessons easier?

— When we talk about specific skills, many are better prepared now. They know how to count, some are already reading and writing, and some know how to hold a pencil. They work on these in daycare or in preparatory groups.

But at the same time, many lack focus and patience. A child might know and be able to do many things, but listening for long or concentrating on one task is difficult for them.

— So, knowing how to read and count doesn’t mean they are ready for school work?

— No. They also need to know how to listen, how to process information, and not give up on a task immediately if something is unclear.

Just recently, we were about to play a board game. The girl started explaining the rules, but she herself didn’t fully grasp them. I found the rules online and started reading them aloud—because I needed to understand how to play as well. I thought we would listen together and figure it out.

Barely a minute or two passed, and the children were already saying, «No, we don’t want to play this.» We hadn’t even started the game, and the interest was gone. I noticed that less often before.

— Do you connect this to a habit of quick information switching?

— I think that affects it too. Everything on a phone changes rapidly, whereas here you have to listen, wait, and apply effort.

And there’s another point about reading. Do children read books, or do adults read to them? That’s a completely different activity—you have to follow the narrative, listen, and visualize.

— And how is their speech changing? What do you notice in class?

— Some children have difficulty expressing their thoughts in detail, or recounting something in their own words. This is especially noticeable when they need to retell a text.

Sometimes they try to memorize the entire story, word for word. But that isn’t retelling. They need to understand what they read, convey the content, and use their own words somewhere along the way. But the child is afraid to stray from the text or simply doesn’t know how to build a narrative independently.

It happens that it’s difficult even to discern where the author’s words are and where the character is speaking. We have to work on that.

— But the internet gives kids the opportunity to learn more. Do you see any benefit in it?

— Of course. There are educational websites where children can study independently and complete assignments. That is a valuable opportunity.

But much of it is set up in the form of tests: you have to choose the correct answer. Explaining why you think so yourself, or retelling what you read—that is a different task. One does not replace the other.

— You mentioned that children have become more confident communicating with adults. Do you see this as a positive change or a difficulty?

— Both. It’s good that the child isn’t afraid to approach, ask a question, or tell you something. Teachers also need to understand what children are interested in—to delve into their interests and problems.

But sometimes this freedom turns into an endless argument. You say one thing to the child, they give you two. You give them two, they give you three. When they stop sensing boundaries, parents have to get involved.

Free communication in itself is not bad. What is important is that the child understands how to converse with another person.

— Does this openness also show in how children express affection for the teacher?

— Yes, they approach and hug. Although I wouldn’t say that ten years ago children didn’t do this at all. They hugged too. But now, I think they are freer in those expressions.

— Is it important for you to maintain distance, or do you respond to that warmth?

— You have to respond to the children’s warmth with warmth. I am not frightened when a child wants to approach and hug.

I generally believe that the first requirement of a teacher’s work is that you must love the children. If you lack compassion for them, if you cannot approach them with understanding, there is nothing to do in a school.

You cannot come in and take out your dissatisfaction, bad mood, or worries about a low salary on the children. They are not to blame for that.

— And what qualities of modern children please you the most?

— Openness, responsiveness. They can respond quickly, come to help. I like it when a child is not afraid to show a positive attitude or share something.

And they pick up new technologies quickly. Sometimes they only need a little bit of time to understand how things work.

— And if we talk about relationships between the children themselves: what do you think is important not to overlook?

— We try to immediately stop hurtful remarks and mimicking. Even when they start calling each other names that one finds funny, but the other finds unpleasant.

In the elementary school, this cannot be ignored. We explain, we give remarks, and the children listen. I would not claim that children today have generally become kinder or meaner. But relationships within the class need attention.

— Is there a feeling that today’s children learn about adult life earlier?

— Yes. Even in the second grade, they can discuss money, relationships, and family difficulties. They know a lot, hear a lot, and can talk about it.

However, in everyday matters, they sometimes remain completely dependent. Some in the second grade still do not know how to tie their shoelaces or how to pack their own school bags.

— So, awareness and autonomy don’t always go hand-in-hand?

— Exactly. A child can reason about grown-up matters, but they still can’t handle everyday tasks.

And sometimes adults just bypass this difficulty. If they can’t tie their shoes, they buy velcro shoes. But the child never actually learns the skill. Then it turns out they need help with that, and help with this.

— What else concerns you?

— Sometimes it’s the attitude toward routine tasks—tasks that must be done not for a reward, but simply because you are here studying, living, and using things.

I had an incident with some former students, who were in the fifth or sixth grade. They were collecting leaves on school grounds and started asking, «Why do we have to do this?» One boy said, «If I were paid, I would clean all this up.»

What struck me in that story was the expectation of payment. Not every task is done for money.

— How do you discuss this with younger students?

— We start simple: you have to clean up after yourself. For example, we kids wash our own desks. We get water, soap, and tidy up the spot where we work.

If you spill something, you have to clean it up. Habits like these don’t appear overnight; you have to work on them too.

— Have parents changed over these years? What do they expect from the school?

— Parents have become very busy. Work, housework—by evening, they are tired, and the cycle starts over in the morning. I understand this; I worked at a school, raised children, and couldn’t do everything either.

But there is also that attitude where they hand over all responsibility for upbringing to the school. Whatever happens, the school is at fault. I’m not talking about all parents, but these situations do occur.

A teacher cannot replace a family. Issues concerning the child must be addressed together.

Parents are genuinely tired, and I don’t want to just blame them. But finding time for the child remains critically important.

— We talk a lot about technology’s influence on kids. Has it made your job easier?

— Absolutely. In almost every session, we use a computer, a screen, a projector. It allows us to show images and make explanations more visual.

Previously, we would look at pictures in storybooks; now, we can project things onto a screen.

— And when preparing lessons?

— It really helps with sharing experience. There are teacher websites where colleagues upload materials and methodological resources.

You take something from there, refine it for your own style, for a specific class. Because even ready-made material needs adaptation—kids are different, class sizes vary. But it’s a huge help.

— Yet, during after-school care, you don’t allow them to use phones. Why?

— Because otherwise, they would just sit around glued to their phones. And we need to do lessons, play board games, and engage in other activities.

The school has clubs where kids draw and craft. There are ways to find engaging activities that don’t involve a phone. And I see kids for whom the phone is almost unnecessary: it’s lying in their backpack while the child is busy with other tasks.

So, I’m not against technology at all. It needs to be moderate. It’s a good assistant, but not a complete replacement for everything else.

— How do you envision primary school in ten years?

— I’m not an expert to give precise predictions. Maybe kids will use physical notebooks less. Perhaps artificial intelligence will take up more space.

But what concerns me is what will happen to basic skills. Some children already struggle with learning to write. I wouldn’t want that to become even harder going forward.

Therefore, no matter how the school changes, I think it’s vital to keep activities where the child writes, draws, and uses their hands.

— And one last question: what would you advise parents of future first-graders?

— Spend more time with your child. Don’t just hand them a phone and say, «Sit and play»; play with them, read with them, talk with them.

I say this not because I’ve always done everything right myself. Due to work, I often missed out on things. You understand that particularly well now.

You shouldn’t delegate parenting to technology. Kids needed love and care ten or twenty years ago, just as they do now. The world around them has changed, and they are adapting to it. But we adults are still necessary for them.