For all the people who think that teaching is the easiest job in the world, I have a question for you. Would you find it acceptable that, during the course of an average work day, a 13-year-old nickel-and-dime thug got into your face and cussed you out in front of your co-workers and clients, all because you told him to turn off the iPod that he wasn't supposed to be listening to in the first place? If your answer is yes, then you're welcome to work for me from now until the end of the school year. In turn, I will happily take whatever job it is that you do. I don't care if you're slinging fries at McDonald's. I'd still get treated with more courtesy and respect than I do in the average school day.
When did it become acceptable for kids to run their mouths like they do? I was waiting outside my son's middle school last week, and some jackass jaywalked right in front of two motorcycle cops. When one of the cops told the kid to walk in the crosswalk, the kid lipped off to him. Seriously? The cops pulled in to the parking lot, and one of them told that kid off. The thing that amazed me is that the kid's grandpa was right there, and he didn't get out of his car and take his belt to the kid, or at the very least rapped him in the mouth.
I'm sorry, but I don't think I should have to give respect to a kid first in order to be treated with the respect that should naturally be shown to adults and/or teachers. I respect my friends, my family, my equals, people I admire...not semi-literate juvenile delinquents. If you're 13 and reading at a 3rd grade level, I have no respect for you or your parents. I have pity for you, which is a lot different than respect.
W O W .
ReplyDeleteSee, I'm nineteen and I still call people by Mr. and Mrs. (Ms, if not married). I say my pleases and my thank yous and I'm just generally very courteous and respectful. Unless somebody mouths off to me, I'm going to be nice. That's how I was raised. It's a real shock to me when I hear stories like this because that's just absolute rubbish. Respecting your elders doesn't just mean elderly. It means anybody who's older than you and has a college degree.
Unless you told the kid to sod off, he had no right to do that. I hope you wrote him up as he was clearly insubordinate. I know that I used to get written up for the stupidest stuff, but it kept me in line and my nose in my books.
I have learned that it doesn't matter if I write up a student for being insubordinate. There is no real punishment. I've been told that refusal to work in the classroom (including putting ones head on the desk and covering it with a hoodie) is an academic issue, not a behavior issue. I guess I should be thankful that the prison system is adequately funded, because that's exactly where these illiterate, disrespectful kids will be headed.
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