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While most of the United States has been lucky enough to have early fall feel more like an extension of summer, that’s not going to last forever. The chill, rain, and overall bitter gloom of autumn is right around the corner. Make sure you have comfortable sweats waiting for you when you get home from work and a few six-packs (or more) of warming, flavorful beer handy.

When we talk about warming beer, we’re talking about stouts, brown ales, barleywines, Belgian tripels, and more. Some are higher in alcohol content and keep you toasty because of that. Others simply give you that cozy, warm feeling because of the malty, sweet, rich, spice-forward ingredients. As the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, these are crucial brews to have on hand.

To find these invigorating brews, we turned to the professionals for a little bit of help. We asked a few well-known craft beer experts and brewers to tell us their picks for the best warming beers to drink this fall. Keep scrolling to see all of their choices.

St. Bernardus Abt 12

Bradley Miles, head of production at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in Phoenix

ABV: 10%

Average Price: $24 for a four-pack

The Beer:

St. Bernardus Abt 12. It’s one of the best Belgian beers in the world. The brewery’s flagship beer, this quadruple style is brewed using the original recipe dating back to 1946. It’s extremely warming on a cold fall day.

Tasting Notes:

This is a very complex, flavorful, warming beer. It’s filled with notes of figs, dates, burnt sugar, and bananas. It’s fruit cake in beer form.

Boiler BourBen German Chocolate Cake Stout

Packy Colgan, USBG bartender at Liquid Sunshine Taproom in Omaha, Nebraska

ABV: 15%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

Lincoln’s Boiler Brewing Company has a BourBen German Chocolate Cake Stout that’s perfect for fall. And sitting at 15% ABV, it makes you feel it. This is a fall favorite in my house.

Tasting Notes:

It has all the things people love about stouts with a tinge of coconut sweetness to balance out those chocolate undertones.

Fremont Brewing B-Bomb

Glenn Allen, head brewer at Pilot Project Brewing in Milwaukee

ABV: 14%

Average Price: $24 for a 22-ounce bottle

The Beer:

Fremont Brewing’s B-Bomb and its variants are amazing higher ABV beers as we dive into the cooler temperatures. Coined as an Imperial Winter Ale (although it’s released in November) it is extremely complex.

Tasting Notes:

It features notes of dark roasted malts, bourbon barrel, chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon. It’s a perfect adult sweet treat for Halloween.

Anchor Old Foghorn

Nico Freccia, co-founder at COO at 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco

ABV: 9.8%

Average Price: $17 for a four-pack

The Beer:

Since this is maybe the last time you will ever be able to find this beer in a store, I have to go with Anchor Brewing Old Foghorn Barleywine. This is the first modern American Barleywine, first brewed in 1975. The brewery recently announced it was closing its doors for good after 127 years. If you’re lucky you can still find some of this on a local store shelf, and Barleywine ages beautifully so you shouldn’t worry too much about whether the beer is old. Grab it while you can and enjoy this American classic.

Tasting Notes:

Coming in at almost 10% alcohol, this fall and winter warmer is loaded with flavors of stone fruit, toffee, and pine.

Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet

Duncan Kral, innovation brewer at Half Acre Beer in Chicago

ABV: 8.4%

Average Price: $20 for a four-pack

The Beer:

Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet. Belgian Tripels are some of my favorite high-ABV, warming beers, and Tripel Karmeliet stands out as one of the best examples of the style.

Tasting Notes:

Brewed with barley, wheat, and oats, this beer provides big flavors and alcohol warmth, while still managing to finish dry and quaffable. Beautiful notes of apple and pear intermingle with clove spice to provide perfect fall flavors in a glass.

Toppling Goliath Assassin

Adam Lukey, head brewer at Eventide Brewing in Atlanta

ABV: 12%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

Once the leaves start to change color and the mornings bring a welcome coolness it’s officially the best time of the year: stout season. My choice for this category is a barrel-aged imperial stout from Toppling Goliath in Iowa: Assassin. This beer comes in at a warming 12% ABV and is aged in bourbon barrels for close to two years.

Tasting Notes:

The base beer is rich, full-bodied, and thick. The character from the barrels gives bourbon, oak, coconut, vanilla, leather, and a wisp of smoke. This is a great beer to share with a friend or two in front of an evening bonfire.

Unibroue La Fin du Monde

Chad Henderson, head brewer and co-owner of NoDa Brewing Company in Charlotte, North Carolina

ABV: 9%

Average Price: $13 for a four-pack

The Beer:

La Fin du Monde is one of my favorite warming beers out in the wild. love Belgian-style Tripels, but it’s hard to find the longing for them in the summertime.

Tasting Notes:

However, this one fits the bill with its rich fruit and clean malt sweetness when the weather shifts to autumn.

Single Hill Parallax

Chris Baum, head brewer and owner at Varietal Beer Company in Sunnyside, Washington

ABV: 10.5%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

I’m a ‘Barleywine around a campfire’ kind of person. And the best that I have found recently is Parallax from Single Hill. This unique barleywine was aged in Westland whiskey barrels to give it an extra, warming flavor.

Tasting Notes:

This is a warming, memorable beer well-suited for fall weather. It’s boozy, sweet, and loaded with dried dark sweet fruit. Yes, please. I’ll take another.

Allagash Tripel

George Hummel, grain master at My Local Brew Works in Philadelphia

ABV: 9%

Average Price: $16 for a four-pack

The Beer:

My favorite autumnal nightcap is a Belgian-style Tripel. Some of the finest Belgian-style brews in the States are brewed by Allagash Brewing Co. Rob Tod and his band of merry brewers make one of the best takes around with their Allagash Tripel.

Tasting Notes:

Creamy head, notes of fruit and spices. This is a very warming, fruity, spiced beer you’ll want to drink all fall long.

Black Hog Granola Brown

Suzanne Schalow, CEO of Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont, Massachusetts

ABV: 5.7%

Average Price: $12 for a six-pack

The Beer:

Black Hog Granola Brown is my pick. It might not have the highest ABV, but it makes up for it with a warming, malty flavor. It has a lot of malted barley as well as wheat, rye, and oats, it’s a nice autumn warmer on an unseasonably cool night.

Tasting Notes:

Bready malts, caramel, and vanilla, all with a dry finish. This is a can’t-miss warming fall beer. What’s not to love?

The Jack Rose is one of those amazingly popular cocktails that… just sort of got lost over time. Before we get into the history of it, know this: The Jack Rose is a Hawaiian Punch for grown-ups. It’s sweet, fruity, and almost too easy to drink. It’s also an incredibly easy and quickly-made cocktail to master, adding to the fun.

Back in the day, the cocktail was huge in the New York/New Jersey scene throughout the late 1800s/early 1900s thanks to apple brandy and New Jersey being so tightly bound back then. It even made it through Prohibition to the point that it was a favorite among Steinbeck and Hemingway, getting name-checked by Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises. Then as brown spirits sort of petered out in the 1960s and 1970s, it fell to the wayside and almost disappeared.

Well, it’s high time that this deliciously fruity and fun cocktail make a comeback. It’s so easy to make, as I mentioned. And it really is a fun sipper that packs a nice sweet fruit punch that you’re sure to fall in love with (especially if you have a sweet tooth).

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Jack Rose

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. apple brandy
• 0.75 oz. lemon juice (freshly squeezed and strained)
• 0.5 oz. grenadine
• Ice
• Lemon Peel

While Laird’s AppleJack Brandy is the original base spirit, you can find some amazing local apple brandies these days to use instead. I really love using Starlight’s Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy for cocktails like this. It’ll add a hint of barrel spice with a truly deep sweet stewed apple vibe. You can’t beat that.

What You’ll Need:

• Coupe, Nick and Nora, or cocktail glass (pre-chilled)
• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Jigger
• Paring knife
• Hand juicer
• Small sieve

Method:

• Add the apple brandy, lemon juice, and grenadine to the cocktail shaker with a handful of ice. Affix the lid and shake for about 15 seconds or until the shaker is ice-cold to touch.
• Fetch the glass from the freezer and strain the cocktail into the glass.
• Express the oils from the lemon over the glass, rub it around the stem and rim, and then discard. Serve.

Bottom Line:

This is 100% fruit punch for adults. I want to bottle this and make a mint. It’s so easy to drink while offering a serious depth of wood spices, apple sweetness, and soft red berry notes accented by bright lemon oils.

This has great hints of apples that speak to fall flavors. At the same time, I can see downing these any ol’ time of year. It’s just a delightfully sweet fruity cocktail.

Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is one of those timeless, classic children’s books that holds a special place in the hearts of people of all ages. I read it so much as a child that I had it memorized when I read it to my own kids, and they will surely pass along the Wild Things love to the next generation as well.

Though “Where the Wild Things Are” is his most famous book, it’s one of many that Sendak wrote and/or illustrated during his prolific career. We see his illustrative work in the “Little Bear” series, in “The Phantom Tollbooth,” and dozens more—not too shabby for a largely self-taught artist.

Sendak’s ability to tap into a child’s imaginary world—both its light and dark places—was what made his work so beloved. But a story he shared of an interaction with a child in the real world demonstrates how well he understood his audience.

The story has been passed through multiple people and platforms over the years, but the website Letters of Note says it came from an NPR “Fresh Air” interview with Terri Gross in 1986. Gross asked Sendak to share some of his favorite comments he’d received over the years, and Sendak responded:

“Oh, there’s so many. Can I give you just one that I really like? It was from a little boy. He sent me a charming card with a little drawing. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters—sometimes very hastily—but this one I lingered over. I sent him a postcard and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, ‘Dear Jim, I loved your card.’ Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, ‘Jim loved your card so much he ate it.’ That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”

Those who know “Where the Wild Things Are” will recognize the boy’s impulse in the line, “But the wild things cried, ‘Oh please don’t go – we’ll eat you up – we love you so!'”

And those who know the value of original art will recognize that the little boy gobbled up a one-of-a-kind Maurice Sendak drawing that would likely go for thousands of dollars at auction today.

The fact that Sendak was tickled and saw it as the highest compliment is exactly why he could write so well for kids. He was able to tap into what made children different than grown-ups. But he also didn’t talk down to them or pretend that childhood was all sunshine and roses. His childhood certainly wasn’t a happy one and he was known for having a bit of a gruff exterior, but his ability to tap into the darkness of childhood without being overly frightening was unique.

“I refuse to lie to children,” Sendak said in his final interview with The Guardian in 2011. “I refuse to cater to the bullshit of innocence.”

Sendak passed away in 2012 at age 83 with 150 illustrated books to his name and the honor of being the most honored children’s book author in history.

Maybe you thought you saw the last of the Frozen girls. But that would be silly of you, since we all know that Disney tends to milk some of these franchises until there is absolutely nothing left to cover, and then they start working on another spinoff anyway. So you know we will be seeing Elsa and Anna until they are well into their sixties ,right? It should be no surprise to you that Frozen 3 is on its way, but the team behind it wants you to know that it will be even better than the other two, which brought “Let It Go” into the world and has aggressively not let go ever since.

Co-director Jennifer Lee says that she has begun working on the production and it will live up to the hype (that doesn’t really exist yet… or maybe does as of…now).

“Every morning last week they carved out space for me to work with the creative team on it, and I am blown away and I am so excited,” Lee said while speaking at the National Film and Television School. Maybe she was trying to hint at the fact that Frozen 3 will integrate new elemental powers like wind to blow people away?! But probably not. It will just be a little snowman dancing…again.

Lee directed the first two films and penned the screenplays. While she hasn’t yet said what her role will be with the film, she says she will be working hard with various departments. “I don’t know what I’m doing on it yet — I’m not doing nothing — except doing what I do now, which is we work on every project as a team and I’m in there with creative. But with Frozen, just a little bit more.”

So will there be a Frozen Four: Olaf’s Revenge Against Climate Change in the future? Possibly! Lee said, “Our philosophy is this, and it won’t change: If there is more story to tell, the filmmakers have to drive it. And I’ll say with Frozen, Marc Smith, who was our director of story on Frozen 2, came with an incredible idea for more Frozen, and it’s worth it.” This means that we will probably make it all the way to at least Frozen Six before they start messing around with time travel and all that fun stuff. Or go to space!

(Via People)

The Boys spinoff Gen V is in full swing and confirming that it is as depraved as its predecessor. The franchise’s penis obsession remains intact, as viewers learned during the season premiere, which included a scene where Emma/Little Cricket shrank down in size to appease a dude who wanted to feel like he had the biggest dong in town. That Supe power (and how she activates it) is deeply rooted and potentially triggering, but in The Boys franchise fashion, the heavy stuff is still balanced out with dark humor.

In Episode 4, however, the dong-mood changes with a “c*cksplosion” after Marie gets virtually roofied by Rufus. Yes, his name refers to him being “like human Rufenal,” as co-creator Michele Fazekas told Variety. Ol’ Rufus didn’t plan this one out, given that Marie is a blood bender, and once she wakes up in his room and realizes what is happening, she sends his blood rushing into his dong, and that leads to what’s being referred to as a “c*cksplosion.” Or as Jordan later describes it, a “Tag Team C*cksplosion.”

Fazekas also revealed that co-creators Eric Kripke and Evan Goldberg “love talking about” and “looking at” penises. Kripke chimed in, declaring, “They’re endlessly funny. They’re the weirdest looking things.” So, they take great pains to build these prosthetics and accentuate them with special effects, not CGI.

The conversation turned serious when Fazekas revealed that the explosion was secondary and only arose after the story behind the scene, which is the experience of many young women heading to university, where they have to really worry about predators:

“We never came into this saying, ‘We want to top The Boys.’ That scene, yes, is about a cocksplosion, but it came from a lot of women in my writers’ room who’ve gone to college and who’ve had these shitty experiences with dudes in college, where you’re like, ‘Is this guy a predator?’ Feeling unsafe. That’s where it came from, of young women going into college. We never start with the outrageous thing, we always start with the story.”

Kripke also elaborated more on the heaviness behind Little Cricket’s source behind her power strongly resembling an eating disorder. For sure, Cricket has gone through the most grueling scenes out of any character on this series thus far (although there are some close characters behind her, like Sam), yet Kripke stresses balancing the light and dark aspects of the show means that “you really have to lead with character,” and “you can never play it for a joke.”

That is to say, viewers witness how uncomfortable Cricket is, both with her purging and being pressured into that sexual act in the series premiere. There are a lot of layers in the mix, and as Kripke concluded, Gen V‘s “snarky dialogue” is present, but “‘The Boys’ universe is not like a Joss Whedon, everything-is-fun-and-light-and-bopping-around.” Point taken.

(Via Variety)

Ever since Puff Daddy employed child actors to portray The Notorious B.I.G. and himself in Biggie’s “Sky’s The Limit” video, it’s become one of rap’s favorite video formats. It’s been utilized by Danny Brown, Macklemore (twice!), and Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Pharrell to enormous success. Add DJ Khaled to that list, as the new video for his ‘Til Next Time single “Supposed To Be Loved” presents pint-sized versions of the producer and his guests Future, Lil Baby, and Lil Uzi Vert.

Created in partnership with Nickelodeon — where Khaled is an eternal fixture thanks to his past participation in the Kids’ Choice Awards and willingness to get slimed for a good cause — the kid-friendly video sees TikTok star Julian Shapiro-Barnum interviewing the actors about love in the style of his popular “Recess Therapy” videos. Their answers are typically innocent yet astute and hilarious and their performances are likewise adorable (its pretty obvious they only barely know the words, but they make up for it in enthusiasm). The Lil Uzi stand-in even has a little costume gem glued to his forehead. The video also premiered on Nickelodeon,l ikely giving Khaled a little more cachet with his own two kids.

Nickelodeon played a pretty big part in the spread and popularity of hip-hop with millennials thanks to shows like All That and Kenan And Kel embracing the culture with their theme songs and musical performances, so it’s nice to see them carry on tradition.

Watch DJ Khaled’s “Supposed To Be Loved” video above.

Saving old text messages from exes can sometimes be an asset when you need to remember exactly why you left them. Alternately, sometimes digital relics from old relationships are a good reminder of how much good we have in our lives currently.

At least, they did for the Twitter user May Larsen, who recently posted screenshots of two text threads with two very different men.

The conversation on the left shows how an old conversation went down with an emotionally manipulative ex. While the other screenshot is a prime example of what communication in a healthy partnership looks like.

u201cDifference between a boy and a man.u201d

— Mayc (@Mayc)
1533704969

The emotional dynamics of this exchange are full of red flags.

This ex (boyfriend, hookup, whatever he was) went from 0-100 in no time. In fact, the ONLY way this kind of freak out would be excusable would be if they had prior plans she ditched on. Alternately, if he was doing a performance art bit where he embodied Drake’s 0-100 via text message. Outside of those possibilities, this type of reaction is nothing short of manipulation and emotional abuse.

The second text message showed how Larsen’s current partner responds to a simple night out.

The difference between these responses to a simple night out on the town is night and day. When comparing the two messages, the red flags really pop.

People on Twitter had a LOT of thoughts about the texts.

Difference between a man and a cuckboi

— paxil (@paxil)
1533870240

Some women shared similar experiences with possessive partners.

Youu2019re reminding the one on the left not to cheat. He already has his guard up. The one on the right is just doing the minimum

— X u00c6 A-12 Musk (@X u00c6 A-12 Musk)
1533905239

A lot of people assumed the texts were from two guys she’s currently dating.

SO IS EVERYONE IGNORING SHAWTY TALKING TO TWO GUYS AT THE SAME TIME?????

— Not Josh (@Not Josh)
1533864031

Nah dude check the first one she cropped the time and allat out of it. You was right at first

— Dee (@Dee)
1533873487

That quickly got shut down.

Donu2019t get pressed over a joke B.

— Dee (@Dee)
1533877627

Meanwhile, others were caught up with the fact that her current dude wears a cowboy hat.

You can tell which one is the man by the cool hat.

— Adam Dane (@Adam Dane)
1533867124

YEEHAWW

— u2764ufe0fud83eudd0dud83dudc7c u0142u2c64u0142u0246u20aeu2c64u0142u2c60u2c60u0142u0246 (@u2764ufe0fud83eudd0dud83dudc7c u0142u2c64u0142u0246u20aeu2c64u0142u2c60u2c60u0142u0246)
1533883789

Regardless of whether the rest of us are pro cowboy hat (I’m pro if you can pull it off), it seems they’ve got a healthy situation going. Communication is key, in any kind of relationship.

This article originally appeared on 04.10.19

Bathrobe. Socks. Insurance card. Snacks.

Sound at all familiar? Maybe, maybe not.

These items would commonly be found on a checklist of things that expecting parents should bring to the hospital with them — in the U.S., anyway.

But what is that list like in other parts of the world?

For Doris, that list included water.

Doris, who lives Morogoro, Tanzania, had to bring her own water to the health center where she was giving birth in 2014. The water she brought was used to clean the nurse’s hands, clean the delivery area, and wash the babies (she had twins!). Unfortunately, the water Doris brought ran out before she was able to wash herself or her clothes, so she had to wait 24 hours before cleaning herself.

I’ll let Doris tell the story herself:

Lack of access to clean water in Tanzania is a very big deal.

Everything turned out alright for Doris and her babies, but thousands of other women aren’t as lucky. But there are ways to help: Organizations and individuals are pitching in to help build water taps, rainwater tanks, and latrines in Tanzanian hospitals, and they’re making a huge difference.

“I want to express my gratitude to the health workers … because they have a great sense of humor with the patients. But the problem is the availability of enough water.” — Doris Alikado

This article originally appeared on 03.26.15

When San Francisco photographer Lisa Robinson was about to have her second child, she was both excited and nervous.

Sure, those are the feelings most moms-to-be experience before giving birth, but Lisa’s nerves were tied to something different.

She and her husband already had a 9-year-old son but desperately wanted another baby. They spent years trying to get pregnant again, but after countless failed attempts and two miscarriages, they decided to stop trying.

Of course, that’s when Lisa ended up becoming pregnant with her daughter, Anora. Since it was such a miraculous pregnancy, Lisa wanted to do something special to commemorate her daughter’s birth.

So she turned to her craft — photography — as a way to both commemorate the special day, and keep herself calm and focused throughout the birthing process.

Normally, Lisa takes portraits and does wedding photography, so she knew the logistics of being her own birth photographer would be a somewhat precarious new adventure — to say the least.

“After some thought,” she says, “I figured I would try it out and that it could capture some amazing memories for us and our daughter.”

In the end, she says, Alec was supportive and thought it would be great if she could pull it off. Her doctors and nurses were all for Lisa taking pictures, too, especially because it really seemed to help her manage the pain and stress.

In the hospital, she realized it was a lot harder to hold her camera steady than she initially thought it would be.

“Eventually when it was time to push and I was able to take the photos as I was pushing, I focused on my daughter and my husband and not so much the camera,” she says.

“I didn’t know if I was in focus or capturing everything but it was amazing to do.”

The shots she ended up getting speak for themselves:

“Everybody was supportive and kind of surprised that I was able to capture things throughout. I even remember laughing along with them at one point as I was pushing,” Lisa recalled.

In the end, Lisa was so glad she went through with her experiment. She got incredible pictures — and it actually did make her labor easier.

Would she recommend every mom-to-be document their birth in this way? Absolutely not. What works for one person may not work at all for another.

However, if you do have a hobby that relaxes you, figuring out how to incorporate it into one of the most stressful moments in your life is a pretty good way to keep yourself calm and focused.

Expecting and love the idea of documenting your own birthing process?

Take some advice from Lisa: “Don’t put pressure on yourself to get ‘the shot'” she says, “and enjoy the moment as much as you can.”

Lisa’s mom took this last one.

This article originally appeared on 06.30.16

The debate as to whether or not parents should supply classroom supplies is not new. But as prices continue to rise, parents are growing more baffled as to how they can be expected by teachers to provide all the various glue sticks, colored pencils, rulers and other various items the incoming students might need.

What’s even more perplexing, however, is penalizing the children of parents who won’t (or can’t) provide them.

This was the case for Shanitta Nicole, who discovered her son received a zero grade in his new school for not bringing school supplies for the entire classroom.

Nicole was especially surprised by this reaction since she had already gone through the effort of making sure her son had every supply he needed from the school’s list, which was slightly different than the one they previously had.

And yet, the 7th grade teacher informed her son that he was still expected to provide for the classroom, not just himself. And, thus, a zero grade, for failing the assignment, so to speak.

Even though Nicole thought the rule was “weird,” she went out and bought the bulk items, which included tissues, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, pencils, Expo markers, and red pens.

And yet, the next week—her son still has a zero. Concerned, Nicole emailed her son’s teacher.

“I’m like, ‘hey…my student has a 83 in the class and everything else in the class is 100s and 98s and he still has a zero for something called ‘classroom supplies.’” she said in a video.

“‘We bought the supplies anyways, but I don’t feel like it’s the parents’ responsibility to supply your classroom. And I definitely don’t think it’s appropriate to assign a grade to students based off of whether or not they’ve supplied your class with supplies. That doesn’t make any sense.’”

@shanittanicole Am I doing too much? #fyp #school ♬ original sound – Shanitta Nicolee 💖

And while Nicole’s email did get the teacher to reconcile the grade, there was no mention to her other concern regarding the responsibility for parents to provide the entire class with supplies.

“So, I emailed the principal because I just, I might be extra, but I just want to see what’s going on. Why do I have to buy supplies for the classroom?” the frustrated mom concluded.

Nicole’s video quickly went viral on TikTok, and several weighed in to agree that the teacher’s actions were misguided.

“That is so unfair!! Especially for the kids whose parents CANT afford groceries let alone classroom supplies,” one user wrote.

Another added, “You are not wrong. It is 100% ok for [the teacher] to ask for supplies, but mandate it for a grade? Absolutely not.”

And this point is truly what Nicole took umbrage with, as she noted several times in the comments. It has less to do with being asked to help and more to do with her son’s grade depending on it.

In a follow-up video, Nicole shared that the school principal did end up reaching out, notifying her that while, yes, teachers are allowed to ask for donations, it should never be mandated.

@shanittanicole Replying to @yafavv._.dancer😍😘💞😍😍💞 Graded Supplies Update #fyp #school ♬ original sound – Shanitta Nicolee 💖

“What the teacher was trying to accomplish, but it definitely wasn’t appropriate,” the principal told Nicole.

While the teacher might have not handled this situation in the best way, it goes without saying that this is a larger systemic issue—one that isn’t exactly fair to parents, teachers and students alike.

Most public school teachers spend a significant amount of their own money on classroom supplies, to an average of $673 per year, according to a recent survey of more than 1,100 educators by the Association of American Educators (AAE). That number only goes up for teachers in high poverty schools.

At the same time, according to a 2022 survey with Savings.com, the typical parent also spends nearly $600 on school supplies. Plus things like clothes, backpacks, haircuts etc.

In the grand scheme of things, there’s no use placing full responsibility or blame onto teachers or parents. Because either way, students get caught in the crossfire. This is clearly a universal burden that needs attention.