Teacher hits out at 'insulting' appreciation gift calling it the worst she's ever seen

A teacher has urged people to respect teachers after seeing the 'worst appreciation gift' ever.

Jen works as an educational consultant, and recently took to TikTok to share her outrage after she spotted a post on social media of a 'gift' a teacher had allegedly received from their boss:

Said present was nothing more than a Ziploc bag... an empty Ziploc, no less, and a little note thanking the teacher for their hard work.

The note read: "I know this bag looks empty but it’s actually filled with our love."

Now, some of you might be thinking, 'Love don't pay the bills', a sentiment shared by Jen.

In a video to her account, she explained that this does not constitute any kind of thanks, and said she was appalled by the lack of respect people in her profession receive.

She said: "Today’s tweet is this teacher appreciation gift.

"That is in fact an empty Ziploc bag with the note, 'I know this bag looks empty but it’s actually filled with our love’.

"And just so I make myself abundantly clear that is not a gift, that is insulting."

@strategicclassroom/TikTok

Getting ahead of the game in terms of what people on the other side of the argument might say, Jen continued: "'Somebody took the time to make these'. Maybe they shouldn’t have.

"Maybe they should have saved their money on the Ziploc bags.

"Maybe they could have taken that time to write a personalised note to each teacher."

Jen rounded off her video by calling out people who think this is an acceptable way of saying thank you to a teacher for their effort.

"But giving teachers a bag of air with a generic note on it is not a gift, it’s a piece of trash, and it is something that some people are going to feel guilty throwing away," she added.

Pleading with people not to do this in future, she captioned the video: "I think this might be the worst teacher appreciation gift I’ve ever seen.

@strategicclassroom/TikTok

"Please. If you’re contemplating this, or something like this, write a personalised thank you note instead.

"It’s free and it means more."

Since it was shared, the post has been viewed over 490,000 times.

And as you can imagine, it sparked quite the debate, with many agreeing with Jen's take.

"It’s like the empty thoughts and prayers we receive," said one.

"I would walk out and leave a note saying, I know this class looks empty but it’s filled with my educational aspirations for my students," put another.

While a third added: "They should have given the whole box of ziplock bags, because I’m sure that would be more usable."

Topics: TikTok

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is the News/Agenda Desk Lead, covering the latest trends and breaking stories. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

@SmithersDom