If you’ve faced a class you can face anything T

EACHING is a stressful job and I should know. I once taught in a high school for the whole of two days after which I needed a lie down in a darkened room for a fortnight followed by prolonged evenings of bar therapy.

I had been asked to be a speaker in my role as author and inspire four classes of differing abilities and ages to produce creative writing.

I was not new to public speaking but I was new to facing classes of early teens who sensed my nerves and the possibility of drawing blood.

Now I knew why the staff room had been subdued before the bell went and battle commenced.

I survived – and got the students to produce some rather good work – but it was not something to be repeated. Ever since I have held the teaching profession in highest regard.

Now I read that classroom stress is so bad teachers are being given electric shock therapy.

A pilot scheme with 21 teachers in Kent was said to have had “extremely encouraging” results. It involved an Alpha-Stim device, used by the army, to send micro currents to the brain through the earlobes.

Which immediately had me thinking of my schooldays. If any teacher from those long gone happy days of corporal punishment deserved an electric shot to the brain it was Brother Claude whose daily joy was to grab the hair of a boy’s sideburn and twist him into contortions to escape the pain. Every school had one. Mind you, ours had a few. Thank goodness it doesn’t happen any more. Today’s teachers use their wit, compassion, intellect and empathy to fulfil their vocation. To me, it seems as if they are on stage, all day and every day, before an audience as edgy as a Saturday night at the Glasgow Empire. The price they pay can be heavy and around 3,600 teachers quit the profession in England and Wales each year. More than a few actually go on to become stand up comedians. Once they’ve faced a class they can face anything. Sir Cary Cooper of Manchester University says teaching is one of the three most stressful occupations. “The hours are long and anti-social, the workload is heavy and there is change for change’s sake from various governments.” Psychologist Jo Buttle said using the electric shock device for 20 minutes a day “helped reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression and sleep difficulties among staff.” They are on stage, all day and every day, before an audience as edgy as a Saturday night at the Glasgow Empire Bill and his old friend Cliff Richard at the Harewood House concert and , left, Bill in his pop star days when he appeared on TV with Cliff