Teachers bullying

I would like to preface this article with this proverb from John Ruskin; "Education...is a painful, continual and difficult work to be done in kindness, by watching, by warning,... by praise, but above all -- by example."



School teachers are the first authoritative figures that most children tend to look upon as much of their lifetime is spent under their rules. Though we all agree that teachers are humans and that they may utter hurtful words at times, some school teachers take abuse of their powers to vent to their anger, irritation and frustrations in class.



While teacher's bullying is a common problem at school, it is less known than bullying between children. Of course, I must underline here that not all teachers bully.

This article is a story about when my daughter experienced shaming from her teacher.

Knowing my daughter well, I do agree that she can be hard to handle with her carefree attitude towards her studies but does this mean that one must resort to humiliation or corporal punishment in front of the whole class?

When she complained about bullying from her teacher, I faced a dilemma. On one hand, I did not know if I have to give much importance to her complaint as I was worried that she might get into the habit of complaining for every small things that she will inevitably face in her life. But on the other hand, I really wanted her to know that I care and will do everything to help her.

When I asked for an explanation from her teacher, I was horrified when I was told that he had been overwhelmed with stress and the situation got out of hand. Why, oh why do some people not understand that physical violence and psychological abuse have devastating effects on a child?

I was thankful at least he did agree with the wrong in his act but how many bullying teachers would do that?

According to WebMd, because most children perceive their teachers as authority bodies, they won't always know or tell when they are mistreated at school. I believe parents should develop the habit of talking openly about school matters at home to keep communication channels open with their children. I usually encourage my children to talk about their day during dinnertime. Not only has this enabled me to keep an eye on their school activities, but this has also developed into improved communications with my children.



Talking openly about the problem to her teacher sent a clear signal that I'm watching over her and that no harm should befall on her and I'm really happy that the problem got solved quickly. I also got a promise from her teacher that the incident will not be repeated in class again.


#any_age
#parenting
#safety
#behaviour
#emotions
#family
#children
#education
#bullying

%parent101