Things must change

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt, 'This Is My Story,' 1937

They are spat upon. They are sworn at. They are physically assaulted. They are victims of the Internet. They are threatened. They are treated with great indignity.

Who are these people? Teachers.

I have met many teachers in my life. As an occasional teacher, I go from school to school. Almost without exception, teachers are some of the most dedicated workers in any profession. Most of them want to help make the world a better place.

So what’s the problem? In many classes and many schools, there isn’t much of a problem at all. However, in some there is a huge problem.

To start, parenting skills in today’s society are sadly lacking. Again, it may be a minority, but put two or three kids in a room who have no respect for authority and everyone suffers. In some cases, the kids rule the classroom or the school. Why? The teacher has little power to deal with the situation. Often, the principal and the administration above provide very little support.

In Ontario, a child can do absolutely nothing and be promoted to the next grade. There is no such thing as failure. There is no such thing as a late assignment. What skills are we teaching our children for the working world?

Really, should there be schools where there are armed police at the entries? What have we allowed to happen to our society?

So how do teachers cope with the situation? Just like some parents, they try to be friends with the students instead of friendly. Sometimes they become too close of a friend. Sometimes they quit.

What can be done? We have to teach students that there are consequences to actions, good and bad. If you don’t do the work, then you have an option. You can repeat the year or spend part of the summer doing the work you didn’t do during the year. The student can pick the poison, but there is a consequence for poor work.

Secondly, teachers need to draw a line in the sand and stand together. If something wrong happens in a colleague’s class, then it happens to everyone. The attitude of gratitude that it isn’t happening to you must go. The staff at a school must act as a team. If it means filing a protest, going to the media or refusing to teach, something must be done to let everyone know that there is a problem. The response has to be calculated and well thought out to prevent a wrong impression or a backlash, but something must be done. Teachers just can’t sit and take it any longer.

Most teachers belong to a union. It needs to get involved to protect its members. It seems more occupied with protecting rights of fringe groups than protecting the majority of its members. It’s not that minority rights aren’t important, but there are higher priorities. Providing a positive climate for teaching is one of them.

Parents need to get more involved in schools. If you are a parent, how do you feel that another parent’s kid is robbing yours of a good education and an opportunity to lead a fruitful life? If you don’t like it, what are you going to do about it? You are an important part of the equation. The parents of the trouble makers are often in denial, just like alcoholics, and blame the teachers for their kids’ attitude.

Hoping the situation will go away by itself just isn’t a good option any more.

Read the first paragraph after the quote again. What profession would allow its clients to treat its members this way? Lawyers wouldn’t. Doctors wouldn’t. Heck, bag boys at the local grocery store wouldn’t. The only two that come to mind are prison guards and soldiers. And, believe it or not, there are many similarities to people who work in these institutions and some schools.

Why not hug a teacher today? Oops, that’s not allowed in the schools anymore, either, as much as they need affirmation that they are doing a good job in spite of it all.