When will teachers....

[shroo]

When I was thirteen I wanted to be a teacher and worked my ass off to fulfill that goal. Now....now I just want to take a nice long nap away from everybody.
I'm really getting tired of the teacher bashing I see on CS. I posted once about my frustration with my department and all of a sudden numerous people were lined up to complain about how teachers ruined literature for them.
Now I'm seeing a lot of "when will teachers do their job" and "teachers were the worst" in the bullying thread.
I can't just sit here anymore. I'm annoyed.
I'm constantly beat on by my coworkers, my students, and parents....I can't just sit there and read these posts anymore.
My job is to teach young minds and mold them for the future. My job is to protect my students while they are here--you know what? If a shooter ever comes into my school I will take a bullet for my kids--even the ones I can't stand, because I do see that as part of my job.
What more do you want from me? Blood? My soul? Take it.
I'm sorry bullying happens, and I do look for it....but I'm not all powerful, all seeing.
Teachers are human--we have lives and issues outside of school. While it might have been really obvious to you bullying was going on, it is possible for teachers to miss it. Granted there are extremes, there are bad teachers, but for the most part give us a break. My mind is on the test I have to give for this class, notes for that class, how the hell am I supposed to pay rent, oh--and while I'm working full time I need to focus on my graduate classes. A quiet insult, or subtle manipulation will get by me. I try very hard ot be vigilant but I know I can't honestly say none of my students were ever bullied. I didn't see anything, or I would have stopped, but I know there is a chance I either didn't see everything, or it slipped past my notice. And I'm sorry for that.
Hell, I hear names being yelled in the hallway, I see students rough house and I stop it only to get attitude "we were only playing!" Every damn time I try to stick up for a kid I'm shot down as being an asshole.
But when will teachers stop the bullying, right?
Just how much power do you think we have, anyway? None. I can bring a kid to the office, we can call home, but ultimately it is up to the child and parents. And you know what? Kids are assholes. Not all of them, but for the most part kids are cruel.
That doesn't mean anyone deserves to be bullied, no one does, but why is so much stress put on the teachers and not the kids? When a teacher bullies a student then that teacher is to blame. When a child bullies another child, the kid is to blame. When everyone sits there and watches, then everyone is to blame.
We can't always see what is going on, we can only do so much.
I can't speak for everyone in my profession, but I know I'm not the only one who does whatever possible to make the students feel safe both physically and emotionally.
We're not the enemies...at least, I never though we were.


Ok, my vent is out and I'm a little less angry....but still. Please keep in mind that for some, teaching is a dream job, something cherished and loved.

[AdminAssistant]

Teaching is an extremely high stress profession, and if you don't think so, you've never taught. And I'm wrangling college kids aka ADULTS and yet I'm still contacted by parents. The final for that class was yesterday, I started getting e-mails asking for grades LAST NIGHT. The fact that I actually have finals and papers and final projects escapes their empty little heads.

Then again, I'm just a TA, I'm not even a real teacher or anything.

[Greenday]

The majority of the teachers getting bitched out for not stopping bullying are the teachers that see it happen, watch it happen, and just keep watching and watching, not lifting a finger to do shit about it. When I was younger, kids hid the bullying from the teachers so there wasn't too much they could do. But after awhile, kids started doing it more and more, not even bothering to hide it from the teachers. And the majority of my teachers would see it happen and not do anything about it. Why SHOULDN'T I rip on those teachers?

[Pedersen]

We can't always see what is going on, we can only do so much.
I can't speak for everyone in my profession, but I know I'm not the only one who does whatever possible to make the students feel safe both physically and emotionally.
We're not the enemies...at least, I never though we were.

You sound like one of the good ones, the ones that care and at least try to make a difference. The problem you are seeing is because of the other people doing the same job, except doing it very badly.

People like my sister, who has told me that any kid who is whining about being bullied needs to get a thicker skin.

People like my junior high school gym teacher/vice principal who, when I actually tried to defend myself finally, punished me while my attackers got off scot-free (I'll relate two of those tales below).

People like the 6th grade teacher across the hall from from my class, who once yanked me out of my class and into hers specifically to make me cry in front of them (and yes, I'm a guy, and yes, I cried out of the embarassment, you can just imagine the fun that caused).

People like the teachers who would always reply "*I* didn't see it, and can't do anything." Even with witnesses telling them. But, of course, they never managed to miss me defending myself, somehow.

People like the football coach who ignored the screams coming from the showers when I had people aiming water bottles filled with the hottest water they could get out of the showers at my genitals.

I can go on and on with other examples. For me, school was hell. And, for me, a big part of the reason was the teachers. I actually had my suicide letter written out in my mind. The only reason I didn't do it was because my parents had managed to brainwash me into believing that suicide was the coward's way out.

If enough of the teachers were like you, I would have been happier as a student, and better adjusted as an adult. As it stands, thanks to the rotten apples who share your profession with you, I am a very cynical misanthrope. Too many of them are just rotten to the core.

ETA: Forgot those stories.

First one: Walking into lunch, I got gut punched. Hurt, a lot. I said something like "fucking shit". Someone heard me badly, and passed it along to the puncher as "Pedersen called you a fucking faggot." He gathered 3 of his friends, and they had fun with me on the way home from school. I reported it to the vice principal. His investigation led him to tell me "We don't condone swearing." Those four received no punishment of any sort. Not even the guy who originally punched me.

Second story: Had my backpack stolen one day. Someone was beating on me, and I ran. They took the backpack. I was berated for letting it get stolen by both my parents and the administration. I got lucky, it was found outside the boys room, and I got it back. Someone else decided to take the backpack while I was changing books at my locker. I chased him, grabbed the backpack, and started beating his hand to make him let go. Turns out I had a pencil, and the tip broke off in his arm. I got punished for hitting him (basically, standing outside the lunchroom until everybody else went in everyday for a week. Think stocks). He got to laugh at me every day for that week. That was all that happened to him.

[Evandril]

Most teachers I have a ton of respect for, it's just the bad ones that get griped about....Or even the ones in a position where they *can't* help, no matter if they'd want to or not. When I first got here, I'd been trying to decide if it'd be better for my oldest to go to a temp school until we got settled, or just to let him catch up afterwards....While at the school, got to watch a parent taking their son out of the school for good...because he was *mugged* IN CLASS, and the teacher didn't stop it. The admin who was being told this, didn't even seem surprised...and we found out later the teacher was scared of the student as well. Needless to say, we avoided that school

One example like that was enough for me to condemn the school, though I'm sure most of it was good...and they seemed to want to care about the students, but...*shrugs*

I've seen very few teachers that didn't *WANT* to help their students, but I've seen a ton unable to, for quite a few reasons...Mostly management's fear of what the parents will do in response to the teacher's 'interference'

[powerboy]

My gripes come from my experiences with teachers. I had teachers that would not teach. He would just put a problem on the board and did not bother to teach how to answer it. I had one that didn't do anything when I got beat up in class. I had some good ones, but ones that are assholes like I had. Fuck them.

[guywithashovel]

I think that most of the hatred towards teachers stems from the fact that they are intelligent people who try to make the world a better place. Such people are usually disdained by the rabble of society.

[tabbyblack13]

I didn't have such a problem in High School. I really didn't have a lot of trouble with my teachers. There was a teacher that had a sexual relationship with a student and claimed to have cancer so no one would suspect a relationship.

As for the teacher that wouldn't help out in a fight. There was a teacher that had both of his legs broken trying to breakup a fight. I saw him in his wheelchair trying to get to his classroom. From then on no teacher were allowed to stop a fight. We had a cop patrol the hallways due to the amount of fights that happened on site.

I will admit most of the teachers I had problems with were in College. With the trouble that I had with these teachers I decided to switch majors. Never looked back. The teacher in the major I graduated in were great. If I needed anything I could ask any of them. I even talked to them about my job offers.

I think it depends on the school and the person teaching. I'm willing to bet that there were some really good teachers out there that have been burned out due to the workload, students, and enviroment.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

While I certainly don't doubt that there are terrible teachers out there (believe me, I know firsthand that there are) I would in many cases lay the blame on the administration before I'd lay it on the teachers.

I have several friends who are teachers. They all say the same thing: "I step in to stop (fill in the blank here) and the administration is telling me to leave it so we don't get sued by the bully's parents (who are usually also bullies)." I have a friend try to break up a fight where one kid was beating the shit out of another kid. She stepped in and got assaulted with a brick. She quit that job when the admin let it happen. Better to let her have to get her head stitched back together than to piss off a parent. I'm serious.

So yeah, I believe a lot of impotent standing-by happens, but there's probably a real good reason for it.

I have dyscalculia. I talk every single night (same as I do with you guys) to a pack of other dyscalculics, most of whom are students. Most of their horror stories revolve around the various admins of their schools. But make no mistake, we have some teacher horror stories on there, too. I read stories every single day of my life that makes me have to log off while I go calm down. In fact, that's why I'm here now. I was too mad to comment over on dyscalculia forums just now. I was shaking with rage. We have people who are supposed to be educators who just sit by and let brilliant, gifted minds slip through the cracks because they can't even be bothered to do the right thing by them.

So while I do have great respect for the profession of teaching, I also realize that that profession is unfortunately polluted with close minded, lazy idiots. And that's unfortunate, because real teachers do not deserve to be associated with that.

[AdminAssistant]

All good teachers try to help their students. But what I preach to my kids (yeah, I call them kids, even though they're all about a minute younger than me) is that I can't help you if I don't know you need help. I had 60 this semester, I'll have 90 next semester. I cannot keep track, and in college, you have to take control of your own education. If a student needs help, for pity's sake, get a doctor's note, go to the office of disabilities and GET HELP. It's very easy, all you have to do then is hand a form to the professor/TA, we sign it, we get a copy, and we are mandated by law to do whatever that form tells us. Extra time for assignments, extra time for tests, proctoring individual tests, extra absences, recommended tutoring, whatever.

It also sucks, because so many students claim to have problems when they don't in order to get extra time or special treatment, and it makes us all cynical towards those who have genuine problems.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Admin, I understand what you are saying and you are right. However, the other side of that is that some students do come forward with what they need, they get diagnosed, often at a great financial burden, and bring documentation and STILL get told "well, you just aren't trying hard enough." I swear, any educator that utters that phrase to someone with an LD ought to be literally ridden off campus on a rail. I talk to people who are desperate, who are sick to their stomachs with anxiety, because they are being told things like "Well, we want you to take that class at least three times. If you still can't pass after three times, we'll see what we can do." Of course, the student has to pay for a class they know they will fail. And sit through a class they know they will fail. Over and over. I imagine that's a ploy to get them to shut up and go away. That is not "help" or "aid" or "accomodations." That's abuse.

And if that's not bad enough, some dickhead politician in the UK, one Graham Stringer, came out saying that disabilities like dyslexia and dyscalculia were a myth. He said that this year, even, 2009 no less.( I suppose he thinks sufferers should have frigging leeches applied to their forehead as a cure.) Anyways, I'm sure this sort of thing won't help the problem much.

[kiwi]

I wanted to be a teacher (highschool history) for years and went almost all the way through university with that in mind. I sat down with a close family friend who has been a teacher for over 30 years and I asked him to tell me honestly what I should do.

He told me to forget it, aim to be a university professor if I wanted to teach, he told me he started off caring, working his arse off to make sure his students were given everything they needed to succeed. But over the years he has been slowly beaten down by admin, by the public perception. He is a brilliant man, an amazing scientist who has been a HUGE part of obtaining and running one of NZ's most important wild life sanctuaries and you know what people do when he tells them hes a science teacher

they sneer... oh is that all

now he's close to retirement he has the attitude that he will give everything to the students in his class who want to learn, and the others can pound sand. A couple of my friends have actually been to his highschool and been taught by him, and their attitudes towards him are very similar to their attitudes towards life.

He isn't the only teacher who told me to forget it and to "have a life", most of them said I would be much better to tutor afterschool than teach full time. Then I would get the best of both worlds.

[Lace Neil Singer]

In the bullying thread, I am naturally mentioning the bad teachers; mostly the headmaster, who was the most pointless school administrator ever. -.- Special mentions also go out to the teachers who made a point of punishing me for standing up for myself, of comforting the bullies who'd been hurt cuz they'd started on me and gotten beaten up, and who watched the bullies torment me and did nothing.

However, there were the good guys; like the deputy head who allowed me to do lessons and eat lunch in his office; he didn't have to do this, but offered his office as an alternative to the library, which was after all open to all other students so there was nothing stopping the bullies from coming in and getting at me during lunchtime. Or my history, English and art teachers, who seemed to genuinely love to teach and who ensured that there were at least some lessons I looked forward to every day cuz I knew that they'd be teaching well, and sending out of the room anyone who picked on me.

However, it's like when people post stories venting on SCs. The vast majority of customers you serve are nice people, it's just the bad ones we remember.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, I will say this: I had a lot of really good teachers, from grade school on up. There was Mr. Carson, who made Shakespeare so fun and undertandable I became a huge fan, and to this day still am. There was Mrs. Thompson, who encouraged me to write. Mrs. Hough, a math teacher who while she didn't teach me any math helped me through some tough times by just being a friend. Mrs. Stevenson let me actually teach her mythology class some. Mr. Wilson taught me that playing music with friends was wonderful.

Really, I have had too many good teachers to list.

The bad ones? All I remember about them is that some tool I don't remember much sucked.

So Shroo, sorry. Yeah, we do tend to focus on the bad, and that is unfortunate. But I think it's safe to say that what we remember about the good ones is way more important.

[Flyndaran]

I had mostly adequate teachers, a few poor ones, two horrible ones, and not a single good or excellent one.
Is my experience really that unusual?