Teacher Rant!!!

[harmony]

I will never in a million years understand why teachers punish all their students in a class for a few unruly kids!!? It hurts the good ones and the others ones don't give a hoot anyhow! I wonder what the logic is behind this really???

[Jax08]

It's in their rule book. I don't understand many of the things they do in the schools anymore. Common sense seems to have gone out the window when "zero tolerance" came in.

[Liesje]

My husband doesn't do that but he will withhold certain perks unless everyone complies. For example say he has a jar of candy, something he bought that they would not have gotten anyway, and says that if everyone is quiet and attentive during the lesson they can each have a piece. It helps hold kids accountable for their actions not just because as an individual the teacher said so but holds them accountable with their peers as well because let's face it, in life no one is ever an "island". I don't think the whole class should be punished because of one person but I have no problem with using extra perks and rewards for group behavior. If one kid is bad he might get a call home or stay in for recess, but he won't take away the recess for everyone, only the kid that misbehaved. To me taking away something that is normally a given is different from bringing in something extra.

[harmony]

My kids school must be so backwards! They have had to walk a track their whole recess for a misbehaving child. Why not reward the good kids, punish the bad ones and a lesson to be learned? I tell my kids that I don't know why they have to account for bad kids (people) because that is not the way it is out in the real world. If someone messes up on the job for being stupid I don't have to pay the price! And can you even imagine being a kid these days being picked on because they have to tell their peer how to act! I don't know, something does not seem right there! I know some parents fall short of teaching/helping their kids, but why do the good ones have to put up with that? I think that could really discourage a good kid too..

[angelas]

From my experience its preparation for the real world where they have to work and if someone in their department/group is screwing around every one gets punished for it (loss of target production bonuses, newly instituted restrictive rules).

I just finished my first semester of college and have newly graduated 17/18 year olds in class. It is pathetic that they don't expect consequences when they are constantly late for class, never do the work and want everything spoon-fed to them but they can't understand why they are failing tests and think that it's not fair when they get to class 10-15 min late that the door is locked and doesn't open until the lecture is over.

These children obviously lacked structured discipline in their formative schooling years. If there had been consequences then they may not be so irresponsible now. And if there were consequences for the whole group then the whole group is put in a position of trying to mold proper behavior. It turns from 1 teacher vs 30-40 students to 1 teacher and 29-39 students vs 1 student. It's also a chance to instill a basis for behavior later in life when students are confronted in the workplace with another employee (or even employer) not doing what's ethical. But again, this kind of behavior is so much easier to instill in 5-6 year olds as opposed to adults.

[Liesje]

I don't know how valuable a lesson it is for children, but I disagree that someone's actions don't involve others. If I mess up on a job that most certainly falls back on my boss. Likewise if my workers mess up I often have to smooth things over or figure out where they need better training from us. In the real world it is rare that someone is working completely alone where their mistakes have no effect on anyone else. When I did gymnastics, we had to do 100 additional sit-ups per fall at the last meet and everyone did them, so if our team had 5 falls regardless of who fell or why everyone did 500 *extra* sit-ups the next day. In that case it was an important lesson because gymnastics is often viewed as an "individual" sport but if you didn't want to be part of the team and only cared (or didn't care) about your own performance then you could go home.

[harmony]

I never lost my job for someone that did not respect theirs. Now I do remember one time everyone getting a bit of a hard time but the one that did not respect their job lost it in the end. I do not compare collage to standard school because the money, time and education is not the same (unless you are rich , to afford something someone can throw away ).

[Liesje]

If it's a big problem, call the teacher and ask for an explanation. Maybe there is a good one. My husband sometimes spends hours each night communicating with parents.

[harmony]

Sorry, in a million years I will never understand why the good are punished with the bad.

[x11]

the good are always being punished because of the bad - our freedoms are continually being eroded not because good people can not handle freedom it's because bad people can't.

i think teachers are the most convenient scape-goat for every ill in society - so many parent just want to be "friends" of their children and expect that the teachers job is to teach discipline jmo.