Discipline is the problem

I DISAGREE with Mr Jarvis in his claim that teachers are being very disagreeable by complaining so much.

It is probably true that teachers do complain a lot. But I would argue that they do this for a very good reason.

I have a very close friend who was a maths teacher (head of department) for over 30 years. He has told me how his job was a nightmare for a large part of that time.

One of the most difficult parts of being a teacher today is keeping discipline. When I myself went to school commencing in the late 1950s this problem rarely existed. Because any unruly pupil could be instantly brought back into line by the use of corporal punishment which was allowed in those days.

Today according to my friend there is no really effective way of disciplining kids. And it is quite often the case that children will inevitably do whatever they wish. They can often speak back to their teachers and will sometimes swear at them.

There is no effective remedy for dealing with such disruptive pupils. It is extremely hard for them to be expelled. Sometimes they may be suspended but generally they come back as bad as before.

And it does quite often happen that extremely unruly youngsters are actively backed up by their own parents, who in some cases are not good role models for the kids themselves.

Whatever job any of us does, there will always be a measure of unfairness involved, because life itself has never been totally fair. But I personally do believe that teachers today do have really difficult jobs to do. I myself have never been a disciplinarian, and I would have been extremely unhappy if I had selected that line of work.

Howard Gardner, Sale