Inconceivable
When I was in school teachers were treated with respect. Both students and parents listened to the teachers opinions, and even if they didn’t agree they responded in an appropriate way.
I always knew that if I was in trouble at school I would be in even more trouble when I got home. It was assumed that the teacher handled a situation correctly, and even if not kids were taught the theory of “guilt by association” or “the second one always gets caught.” We were taught personal responsibility and we accepted the consequences that came from our actions.
Sometime between when I was in elementary school and when I started teaching elementary school things drastically changed. I was shocked when I saw the way parents would question teachers or acted in a way that showed they believed their child was always right regardless of the situation. It was inconceivable to me that a parent would assume their child’s teacher was wrong without ever getting their side of the story. I couldn’t understand why they didn’t want their children to learn from their mistakes. I was shocked to hear the way parents talked to teachers. Instead of parents listening to teachers, teachers are now being accused of “targeting my child”. What happened to personal responsibility? What happened to accepting the consequences of your actions?
I understand teachers can be wrong; we are human like everyone else. However, if a parent disagrees with a teacher there is a time and a place to handle it. None of these conversations should be happening in front of children or worse yet in front of an entire class. Why would you question a teacher right in front of your child? Do they honestly not realize their actions negate the teacher’s authority in the classroom?
I was appalled the first time I disciplined a child for pushing another student into a trashcan and the student turned to me and said “just wait until my mom hears about this.” In the past the situation would have been reversed. The student would be afraid of the teacher telling his or her parents. I guess that time is long gone.
How do you even respond to these situations? It saddens me to see children raised in this way. I worry about the obstacles they will face when they are out in the real world without their mom and dad stepping in to save them. I worry that one day a child is going to get into a situation over their head and not know how to react, and worst of all I worry that one day this generation will be running our country.