With all the events that have taken place recently there is something weighing on my heart very heavily. It is something that I have thought very strongly about for some time now, but with the free ground of facebook and everyone's opinions posted I have felt even stronger about it. There is a lot of talk about teachers, God being put back in the school system, guns, etc...I don't claim to be an expert on all things, not even on the things I will talk about in this post, but what I do know comes from experience, observations, and just plain common sense. With that in mind, I want to say that I have been a non-parent and a teacher at the same time and also a parent and a teacher at the same time. I do come with several view points on this matter.
This goes for all people, those with kids not of school age, those with kids in school, and those without kids. So many are quick to blame a teacher for the many problems that happen at school. I am not saying that there are not teachers who do things wrong, I repeat, I am not saying that teachers are never to blame. Back when I was in school, my teachers were just my teachers. Now a days, if you want to open your eyes to this or not, teachers are not just teachers. They are also counselors, nurses, patrol officers, disciplinarians, an ear to listen, lunch provider, and the list goes on and on and on. Times have changed. There is so much pushed off on teachers because in general, parents are just not involved as they once were. I can speculate on why that is, but that is another post all together. I have heard so many pool teachers in one big category. I understand that there a lot, and I mean a lot of stories of teachers in the news and that it is easy to form an opinion. I don't want to make light of that. Just like with everything we do there are good and bad. Good boss, bad boss.
Everyone is missing the bigger picture here. IT ALL STARTS WITH THE PARENTS IN THE HOME. As parents you are responsible for teaching your children. You are responsible for making sure they are the people they should be. You are responsible for your children. Stop passing the buck off to the teachers and loading them with the responsibilities that should be your own. I am not saying that schools should not be a safe environment for our children. I know from experience that there are many more people in the school system that try to make that happen than those that don't. But unless there is a tragedy that puts that in the spot light you don't hear about it. You only hear about the bad because that is what the media wants to talk about.
Parents need to be more involved with their children. You need to teach them to pray at home. If they pray at home and you teach them that they can stop and pray whenever they want, even when it might be difficult, then God will always be in our schools. If you make sure your kids are doing what they should be doing at school, listening to their teachers and learning instead of causing trouble, then the teachers wouldn't be so stressed out and overwhelmed with the heavy load they have today. If your child is having issues of some sort, don't send them to school for the teacher to sort out. When did it become their jobs to do that? Go to the school. Know their teacher. Make sure they are doing what they should be. Please do not excuse your busy work load to not go. You had them. You are responsible for them. They go to school to get an education. I know that is the nature of taking care of kids that you will also have to deal with other issues, but it is getting out of control. I know this from the experience I gained from being a teacher for 6 years. Unless you are in that setting and hold the responsibilities, do not judge. If you want to make a difference in the school system, you have to do something other than just complain.
There is a reason a child's day starts and ends in the care of a parent.
