Dear Editor,
In recent times we have seen an increase in the abuse of teachers, which is most disgusting and needs to be addressed. While children face penalties such as suspension, detention and expulsion, there seem to be no change of behaviour.
It has become incumbent on the Ministry of Education to get to the root cause of such behaviour. I strongly believe that teachers are under immense pressure to keep up with their curriculums, their personal lives, etc. Our teachers are often referred to as ‘nation builders,’ which cannot be denied; they often work hard, sometimes with little reward and all of this sometimes adds to the pressure and may result in teachers becoming frustrated, angry and lacking self-control. This is not to forget the diminution in the use of corporal punishment which was once the main tool used by teachers to correct inappropriate behaviours. This seems to cause teachers to feel powerless and lack control over students.
Teachers have to resort to other methods to curb indiscipline in school. What was shocking for me in a leading secondary school on the East Bank of Demerara was to hear the remarks thrown out at children if they were found wanting. At a parent-teachers’ conference, the parents were shocked that some teachers called children menial names. One example was a male teacher saying to a fourteen-year-old student, “Don’t smile with me, I don’t go in for lil girls.” What a nasty and suggestive statement coming from a teacher. Another child was hit in his back and had to visit the doctor, and there are so many more, but only the misdemeanours of children are highlighted but not those of the teachers.
As a parent I am well aware that not all teachers engage in this kind of misconduct but there are a few thorns among the wheat. Children feel as though teachers have no love and feelings for them, which may very well not be so, but if teachers continue to create an atmosphere of humiliation, then our children will resent them. Children are people too, but because they are children, they are subjugated to insults and humiliation. A school should be a place where the rights of both teachers and students are not violated. Teachers have a voice and they can speak out at any time, but children are to be seen and not heard. We don’t want to raise disrespectful children, we want them to be assertive and enabled to speak out bravely when their rights are been disregarded.
I do not intend to cause any child to feel it is right to disrespect teachers, but if we only punish the children and not address the teachers, then we will be cutting off branches from a tree, while the root remains and the problem continues. We do not want our children to be afraid of their teachers but to respect them. Sadly they are fearful of teachers punishing them but they do not respect them because of the verbal and psychological abuse meted out to them.
Editor, I was once proud that my child was part of this school, after writing the Grade Six Assessment, but it now seems a nightmare when children resent going to the place of learning and academic development.
I wish that the Ministry of Education could look into the issues students and parents are faced with at this secondary school. It no longer seems to be a school but a boot camp. Every citizen is a child protector.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
