The topic that I want to address today is one that has been ruminating within me for some time. The reason for this internal struggle is that I haven't really designated true feeling with the situation I am going to write about as logic, and my genuine attempt at the understanding of it has tainted the mix.
I believe that real feeling, tied with inspiration, tied with perseverance, is its own mechanism or catalyst for change. Consider The Civil Rights Movement. The human capacity to FEEL, and to move into the realm of what is right, and decent began with the stirring of emotion. Mrs. Parks refusing to get up. Dr. King inspired...persevering through what can only be described as hate in its truest form. Child Labor Laws, Women's Rights...Schindler and the Holacaust...all began with someone saying..."Oh, hell no!"
Change...great change stems from the deepest, most basic elements of what it is to be human. There are no mathematical equations, or formulas to explain any of it...not really. Feelings/Emotions...anger, disgust, unparrelled joy...are not logical (Sorry to sound so "Spock-like"). When we are in love...no logic applies. When we get angry...no logic applies. When we are sad...no logic applies. These illogical, inner workings of human beings can (and have) mark the beginning of an evolutionary step forward. For you pessimists out there...I realize that there is a dark side to this...my personal interpretation of logic versus emotion. I am not going there at the present time.
So...longwinded explaination stated...I am perplexed and conflicted regarding my emotions on the following matter, and the logic of it all that keeps getting in my way. Before I begin, I must add that emotion is gaining strength. I guess that is why I am here in front of my computer today.
The topic has to do with Parents! Not my parents, but the evolution of parents everywhere who have children that attend school districts across our nation. Upon reading the following, please note that I speak of a subset of parents. I realize that I typed...of parents everywhere. What I mean is that everywhere (It seems to me) there are subsets of parents who fit this particular bill...who, if given the shoe and it fits they should wear it!
I wish to offend no parent (s) out there who has a real grasp on the matter. This larger group...this collection of good and honest moms and dads...who know their children (In a REAL sense), and who work alongside of their respective schools. All of you I commend most highly! If you are a subset-parent...I don't care how you feel! Get a clue! If for some honest-to-God strange reason you are here, reading my blog...READ WELL!
When I was a kid school was a respected institution. It was a place filled with educated professionals that taught kids, and encouraged young minds to grow. If there was a behavioral problem with a student, and the parent had to be called by the principal...there would be hell to pay when that kid got home. If a teacher sent home a note, or failed a kid on a test...the parents were alarmed, but sided with the teacher/principal and further enforced any and all disciplanary actions. In my day a teacher was believed. A teacher was trusted. We all knew (My classmates and I) that even if some of us were class-clowns (I was)...when the teacher called you out...you listened and you stopped. If it got to the point where your parents had to be called? Let's just say...none of us EVER wanted that to happen! We knew where the line was drawn with our teachers, and with our parents. Some of us may have taken it right up to that line, but no further. To cross that line was an option that only a very few ever attempted.
Over the years...some strange mental evolution has created a subset of parents. This evolution has spawned a cadre of bullies and enablers. Groups of parents equipped with massive weapons such as caustic tongues and hell-fire emails. Threats of lawyer involvement, and advocate support. Phone calls infused with condescension, and accusations. Administration...more times than not... tipped support more towards the side of this subset than the teachers, in an effort to quell the noise and Make Happy for everyone! That last sentence is my perception of the school (s) view, not mine. What I see is the administration Making the parents happy more than anything else.
No matter who you are, no matter from what district you are from...ask teachers to tell you their stories about this subset of the parents they have had the misfortune to deal with over the last 10 years or so. If you listen long enough, they can be more terrifying than any campfire ghost story. You have heard the idiom...the squeeky tire gets the oil...in this case, the loudest voices get heard. A teacher...with an unblemished reputation...can be rocked to their core because of one loud bully parent who refusues to believe that their child hit another child. The parent's defense...the victim walked into their child's fist! I have heard stories where, on one occasion, a teacher called the parent of one of her students, concerned that the child was not paying attention. My child is bored, you should be teaching better!...was the parent's response. Another story was of a child who aggressively attacked another. The victim's only crime was that he accidently bumped into the aggressor in the hallway. The agressor was written up, and the parent was called to come in for a meeting as her child was being suspended for the day. That parent argued that her child was being accused falsley, and that the teacher was perjudice. Upon leaving with her child the parent said...Come on honey, you can come home and play your Xbox, you have a day off from school!
Ladies and gentleman...I have a million of them. So many stories, of so many parents who have it in their minds that we...the teachers...are out to GET their kids! This blog could turn into a novella if I continue.
I have seen administration back up their teachers in these situations. I have also seen administration back up the parents. I believe that this (The dealing with, and attck from parents) is the main reason that someone who does become a teacher, stays in the field no more than 5 years.
Morale is the magic elixir! When its high...all is good. When it is low...everyone suffers. Another idiom...one bad apple spoils the bunch. It only takes one bullying, rabid, I-don't-care-about-my-kid-unless-you-accuse-him-of-something parent to spoil the year. It is getting to be more and more prevalent. It is a plague it seems. When did teachers become so untrusted?
Today...this is what I see. School... a place filled with educated professionals that teach kids, and encouraged young minds to grow. If there is a behavioral problem with a student, and a parent has to be called by the principal or the teacher...the teacher will have hell to pay. If a teacher sends home a note, or fails a kid on a test...the parents are alarmed, and side with their child and further enforced the notion that the teacher was at fault, not their kid. Today, a teacher is looked at suspiciously. A teacher is no longer trusted. Some students know that when a teacher calls you out...said student can argue back then tell mommy and daddy so they can call out the teacher! Parents (From the subset) do not draw lines any longer at home, so it is unknown to them (Subsets) when a teacher does it. If a parent has to be called on the phone usually the student invloved already knows the system, knows what buttons to push, and he/she is totally satisfied and/or gratified with the reality that NOTHING will happen at home.
Friends...we live in a world where everyone is a winner. Everyone gets a trophy. Everyone gets a Blue Ribbon. Everyone gets a prize for everything they do. Character building...learning to deal with disappointment, and the notion of trying harder next time as a fundemental element in adult life, is gone. Some parents enable their kids to do bad things, and encourage them to think their teachers are the bad guys. WHY? This is the question I have been asking myself over the years, and it is this question that is at the heart of my dillema. Emotion and logic...trying to understand WHY?
Knowing how I feel about the whole situation is easy. Emotion is easy. That is not to say that all emotions are easy to feel...they simply ARE. Real and genuine (Though physically intangible) emotions come from a place only poets have attempted to name. I know that I am angry and hurt when a fellow teacher has been attacked by a subset parent. I know that I am hurt or angry when a parent has questioned a decision I made regarding a grade, or a disciplinary action. My attempt at finding the WHY takes power from my emotions and has made me pause in my approach to this matter. Until now. It seems that this matter is approaching the line...MY line! The overwhelming accounts of negative parent/teacher interactions is ever growing, and I truly believe that if something is NOT done...the impact on our education system will be more devastating than ever.
If you think back to when the whole NCLB came to be (up through today)...schools were given ratings. This opened a whole new dialoguge within the public and their children's education. Schools with a lower rating were the fuel that began parents questioning their respective schools. It allowed parents to begin using phrases like...It is the teachers' fault the kids have done so poorly! Of course we know now that the entire NCLB has done much more harm than good...but the dye has been cast! It helped to make it OK to see schools in a negative light, and it made it OK for parents to blame their most direct source of all the controversy...the teachers.
Should parents question things when it comes to their kids, their kids' teachers, and their kids' education? Of course they should. Are there BAD teachers in the world? Yup, there sure is! There are BAD elements everywhere you go. The subset has had many years to formulate the bad press about our education system. The education system has tried to compensate by driving out good teachers, replacing staff, implementing behaviorial plans for children that allow them to do everything BUT school work so as to quiet the subsets. This has accomplished nothing but cause more harm than good!
Nationally, the educational system has tried to compensate by adopting new programs, new directives, new curriculmns, new student guidelines, higher standards, more tests, etc. No address has been made to the evolution of what our educational system has become. The REAL issues seemingly are the tangible ones...grades, placements/ratings on international education lists, etc. This is NOT true...in my view. There are as many arguements for and against any issue anyone can bring up regarding all of this. The educational system has become encompassed in a negative light...absolutely negative...to the point where if any good is stated, it falls through the cracks. Education is now an institution that has been criticised and downgraded to the point where our profession no longer has merit. My emotional side hurts because of this, while my logical side understands it. The subsets only ever hear the negative. This brings out their inner asshole!
How do we make this better? I will answer this using the genre of fantasy. If one wants to know how to fly, don't ask some guy or gal in a suit from DOE. Talk to a freakin eagle!
