It's the system.

When I was teaching, I was allowed only a certain number of bathroom passes. I tried making a reusable bathroom pass and got in trouble for it.

As a rookie teacher, my contract was not renewed. "Classroom management issues" were cited. My use of "too many" bathroom passes was cited as part of the evidence of "classroom management issues." Also, the fact that I let the students go to the gym or the library if they wanted to or sleep if they wanted to. This was partly due to my libertarian values and partly because my classroom was overcrowded, and if I let the kids who didn't want to be there, I could focus on the ones who wanted to be there.

I wanted to teach for a lifetime and worked on my degrees for several years, but I got let go because I didn't have it in my heart to be mean enough. There are probably many former teachers who didn't last the first few years and could tell the same story.

Rookie teachers are often advised, "Don't smile before Christmas." They must learn to be harsh and rule-bound, or they will not be retained. Every time I hear about the teacher shortage, I think about how the system wants teachers to be monsters, or else we'll be discarded like paper cups.