Bad apples blight the noble

BEING a teacher is hard work and I really don’t envy them. It’s one of those professions where you are either born for it and have the passion for it, or you shouldn’t even consider it as a career option.

I’ve been in the (un)fortunate position of having to train a few people along the way, and seriously, respect to the teachers who have to do it on a daily basis. One thing you have to have in abundance is patience.

I quickly discovered it’s something I don’t possess – not even a trifle.

But the satisfaction you get when you know you have put somebody on to the path of greatness is a highly satisfying feeling.

However, after the incident reported on in yesterday’s newspaper, I simply wonder what the hell are you doing in this profession?

Yes, I can understand that everybody gets frustrated and you are bound to lose patience, but when you are working with especially young children, as in this case, you have to keep your cool and deal with it in a mature fashion. You are, after all (and we really hope so) the adult here.

You are not the 12-year-old. I’m sure you were taught when you studied to become a teacher how to handle conflict situations and how to properly discipline a misbehaving child.

In my day, corporal punishment was still the order of the day. In some instances it helped. Many times I wish I could have taken my stripes instead of having to write essays on why I did what I did, and what I learnt from the situation.

Trust me, it didn’t work on me. Two weeks later I would be back up to my shenanigans.

I remember when we were growing up we had these neighbours. It was a family with two sons more or less my age. And, boy did we sometimes get into some fist fights. That’s what happens when you have six weeks of holiday and you get bored.

Two hours later you were friends again, though, and swapping things out or playing some or other game.

When your parents got home from work and found out that you had been fighting like a hooligan you were appropriately punished.

I had my fair share of punishment at school, but I was never, and I don’t ever recall a situation like that which was the case on page two of yesterday’s newspaper.

I can understand why the teacher acted in the manner he did, but there is no way his behaviour can be justified in any manner.

In my personal opinion, children are mollycoddled too much these days. I’m not saying they should bring corporal punishment back, but sometimes children take advantage of this and manipulate the system to their advantage.

Discipline and handling a situation such as this should be a two-way street. A lot of times children mirror behaviour seen at home. I don’t know if parents just don’t realise this, or whether they just don’t care; but if your child hears you use foul language, scream and shout at each other, I can almost guarantee that they will assume this is acceptable behaviour.

Then teachers have to not only deal with this type of behaviour, but also do what they are actually paid to do – teach.

I must admit there are bad elements in the teaching profession, but this should not blight the wonderful work that those called into this noble profession actually do.