The head of the country's biggest teachers' union says educators are 'exhausted, stressed, and stretched so thin it feels like we'll crumble'

• National Education Association President Rebecca Pringle says teachers are at their breaking points.
• "We're all exhausted, stressed, and stretched so thin it feels like we'll crumble," Pringle said.

Now in their third school year of teaching through the pandemic, many educators have reached their limits.

The head of the largest teachers' union in the US spelled out just how exhausted educators are in a letter to executives at several social media companies. The contents of the note were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

"We're all exhausted, stressed, and stretched so thin it feels like we'll crumble - and now we're facing growing violence fueled by corporations with no oversight and no accountability to the communities they harm," wrote Rebecca Pringle, the president of the National Education Association.

The letter is addressed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In it, Pringle asks the executives to "stamp out disinformation and violent trends" that have affected teachers and students at school.

One trend she calls out is the "devious licks" phenomenon, which has become popular on TikTok and shows students appearing to steal everything from projectors to paper towel dispensers from their schools.

"Online 'trends' and false information that have spread like wildfire throughout social media platforms - from stealing school property and hitting school staff, to conspiracy theories on curriculum and coronavirus protocols - have helped create a culture of fear and violence with educators as targets," Pringle wrote. "Across the nation we see social media pushing users to steal from schools, damage school property, and threatening to hit school staff just to get 'likes.'"

Pringle also brings up the spread of content decrying the use of masks in schools as "infringement on personal liberty," as well as "the alarming growth of a small but violent group of radicalized adults who falsely believe that graduate level courses about racism are being taught in K-12 public schools because of misinformation spread on social media."

Many schools have seen rising violence against staff throughout the pandemic. The National School Board Association recently writing a letter to President Biden asking for federal assistance to crack down on the incidents. In response, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice will form a task force to address the threats.

In her letter, Pringle asked Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter to take action before this violence escalates further.

"We're calling on your companies to take this threat seriously and prioritize the safety of people over profits - you can help put an end to the stream of propaganda fueling violence against educators in our communities," she wrote. "To that end, we're demanding that your companies make a public pledge to students, educators, and their families to regulate lies and fix your algorithms."

The growing violence on school campuses, along with factors like burnout, COVID-19 concerns, and low wages, have all contributed to a stark decrease in local education employment.