While many teachers are learning about the latest trends in education, some students are packing malls and getting into trouble.

The annual Calgary City Teachers Convention is taking place right now, which means students did not have to be in class Thursday or Friday.

The conference has several purposes including bringing an awareness “of innovations in teaching” and to “review (teachers’) changing roles in the school,” as cited on the Calgary City Teachers Convention website.

The conference is causing some problems for parents, like Connie Hykaway who says she can’t leave her kids unsupervised.

"There aren't a lot of options for the smaller holidays like teachers convention,” Hykaway says. “It's hard — we're a two-person employed family and it's hard to find that extra child-care."

Parent Krista Siemen says it is hard to find child-care, but says the conference is worthwhile.

“It is a bit of a hassle, but I understand that everybody needs professional development and teachers need to learn just as much as everybody else,” she said.

Meanwhile, some students say they have to look after their siblings.

"Sometimes I feel like the parent actually. I feel like I take on a lot of responsibility when they're not home,” said junior high student Brittany Welsh.

Student Graham Gerein says some of his peers talk about getting drunk or doing drugs while not in school, but he says that’s not the case for all students.

“There’s not a lot of kids like that…there’s a lot of us that know what we’re doing and we shouldn’t be doing that and we don’t do that but then you always get the few crazy kids that are just off doing their own thing,” Gerein says. “It doesn’t look good on the school it stereotypes us normal kids as being idiots.”