An Interesting Blog

Did you read about the teacher from suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for her blog in which she called her students "disengaged, lazy whiners"? She is fighting to keep her job because of her blog and it will be interesting to see what happens, especially since this blog was written on her time, not the school's. Now let me say up front that she probably showed very poor judgment in sharing her thoughts publicly and if things are really that bad, she should quit and find a job elsewhere. That being said, I must admit that she had the courage to say what many many teachers would really like to say. She wrote "My students are out of control. They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are generally annoying." Now I know that all students and classrooms are not like that. But, unfortunately, too many are. Some of the comments that she wished she could put on student evaluations were interesting, such as "I hear the trash company is hiring". I think many teachers would like to have the courage to say that to a few of their students. It is sad that the trash company may be all that some have in their future. I also read "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son." Now thankfully that thought never crossed my mind, but I know it did to some that I taught with. And how about "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?" Now there is one that I sometimes thought of but never had the courage to say. The biggest change that I experienced over 39 years was the difference in parents. Besides the fact that in recent years many students only had one parent, it was obvious that many had no parenting skills or common sense. They would defend their child when the child was obviously at fault. They pampered their children and never said "no". They gave them everything they wanted without making them work for it. I think in many cases they were just plain scared of their kids. Parents have become more demanding on teachers and schools to raise their kids for them and less demanding on their own children. Unfortunately I sometimes found this to be true with Christian parents. It is easy to blame the schools and teachers for ones failures. It didn't used to be that way and it still isn't in many cultures such as in Korean families. Well I don't know what will happen to this teacher who said publicly what many teachers would like to say. And while I can't support what she has done, I can understand the circumstances that drove her to write what she has written. I seldom had serious problems during my years in the classroom and I often still miss the students. But as I view what is happening, I am glad that I am now retired.