Why I Understand Struggling Students When Others Don’t
- Karisma's Kaleidoscope
- Dec 2, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 9
Many of my students ask me, "Why can't more teachers be as accepting as you?" And trust me, I get this question often, and the answer is never easy. Because a lot of the time it means telling a child the sad reality of our education system and the sad reality of how some humans are. It is one of the most difficult answers to give a student, and sometimes I struggle to find the right words as each student is different and each one will have a different takeaway from the conversation. But I always try to stay as neutral as I can. So here it goes, I will explain the answer to my question with you. Just be warned, this is a long and very boring version of my answer...but someone has to read it right?
The honest answer is that every teacher and every person comes with a different mindset, background, and life experience. We cannot expect everyone to react the same way, and it would not be fair to expect them to either.
For me, acceptance did not come from a textbook it came from struggling in school myself. School was not easy for me, let me tell you that, but I guess my struggle and school experience allows me to fully understand and accept what a student means when they say, “I’m struggling and I’ve had it up to here!” I know what that is like. I know how gut wrenching that can feel like. I know how difficult it is to verbalise that to someone. And I know the anxiety attached to the response that we are hoping will help us. However, it is sad to say, but someone who has never experienced those struggles may not naturally respond with the same level of understanding or acceptance. Even today, in 2025 when I am writing this blog, not everyone recognises how the education system can set some students up for failure rather than success. And it is easier for some people to jump to the conclusion that the child is lazy, or difficult or a failure than to sit and actually take the time to understand where this student is coming from. Like the saying goes, anyone can teach, but only a true teacher will reach the child at the back of the room who has lost the confidence in themselves and everyone around them. And that is the sad reality that we all have to keep in mind. There are teachers out there who simply do not care and there will be some teachers who do, and our children will have to face them both at some point in time.
So let me make it very clear to whoever is reading this, when a student says "they have had it up to here," and expresses the difficulty they are facing, it is rarely about laziness or a lack of effort. More often than not, it is that something in their learning process is not working for them. Whether it be their study style, or the amount of time they are studying, their surroundings, something that is triggering them, or even the lack of support from their parents or guardians, it affects their learning process in more ways than one. If they are expressing this to you, please understand the level of trust they must have in you for them to be vulnerable with you. Understand how difficult it is to express how they feel to an educator or adult and be dealt back with the words "you're lazy," or "you just need to try harder."
After 16 years in this field, I have seen firsthand how easily children can fall through the cracks of the education system and are just labelled as lazy. That experience has shaped the way I work. I have learned to look for a student’s strengths. Yes, even the quiet, hidden ones and help them turn those strengths into their advantage. Maybe that is why acceptance comes naturally to me. I have lived it, I have seen it, and I believe every student deserves someone who sees the best in them, even when they cannot see it themselves.
I am going to end this post with a quote, yes I know a cringe moment, but why not. So here it is...
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