Ah, the last-minute panic of the teacher Christmas present. Most parents will be familiar with the tricky politics of what to gift: is booze appropriate? Is chocolate a cop out? Or should we scrap it all for a handmade present?
Well fear not because apparently, we should rethink the way we approach teacher Christmas presents. That’s according to money saving expert Martin Lewis, who took to Twitter to clarify his stance on the matter, following reports he thinks Christmas presents for teachers should be banned.
While he says this is 'not his view,' he admits he has 'slight worries' on the personal and financial pressures it can put on people. 'So I've just seen some newspaper reports that seem to indicate I think there should be some sort of legislative ban on giving teachers presents. That is not my view,' he began. 'Teachers do an amazing job and I know that many people are grateful, but I do have slight worries that when you're talking about individuals giving teachers gifts out of their own pockets, then those with the biggest pockets are able to make teachers more grateful and I mean I'm sure most teachers don't behave in that way, but I too think that sets a moral hazard.'
He explained how people are already under financial pressure and may feel even more so if they feel obliged to buy presents for teachers, adding 'I also think we have to be vary careful amidst a cost of living crisis that we don't make it a matter of course that people by gifts for teachers and therefore put unnecessary unaffordable pressure on every parent who's got a kid in school to buy their teacher a gift. I don't think any of this is coming from teachers by the way.'
Martin suggests that, instead of each student purchasing a gift, they all come together to buy one present from the entire class. After he posted the video, many people took to X to share their thoughts. One user wrote 'As a former teacher, I found it entirely embarrassing to have hoard of gift bags coming in on the last couple of days of term. It really isn't necessary at all. Nor is it fair on other staff who worked as hard but maybe didn't have the same amount of kids or lessons, so got less.' Another agreed, writing 'My daughter’s primary school had a “buy a book for the library” scheme where parents/ children were encouraged to gift a book at the end of the school year or at Christmas rather than specific teacher presents.'
Martin's comments follow his appearance on Times Radio on Thursday, where he was asked about the topic. Presenter Matt Chorley said ‘You know, people listening to this will think that, particularly the thing about buying presents for teachers and the pressure of that, that's a massive thing, isn't it? And what, you'd ban that?’ Martin replied ‘I think we should ban - this is all about agreeing. So what I say is we should actually start, and we should start in September and get all those extended lists. And we should simply say, I think we shouldn't buy presents this year.’
This isn’t the first time that the topic has made headlines. In 2019, a teacher was praised after sending a letter home that spared parents from having to hunt for the perfect Christmas present for her. Instead the teacher requested that parents who would usually be choosing gifts for staff focus on doing something ‘heartwarming’ - in a bid to ease the constant financial pressure during the festive season. 'I would like to reduce your stress a little and ask that you don't buy me a gift,' she wrote, before inviting families to send in an anonymous donation of no more than £2 to help those in greater need. 'This half term we will be focusing on money in maths and the real meaning of Christmas in our RE lessons. With this in mind I would like the children to be involved in the social responsibility of giving and and kindness and plan to support a local family.'