Extra With a Capital E

I do not condone abuse or misuse of teacher authority. I do concur that we need more of the "old-school" teaching in our schools.

I cannot think of a greater cruelty perpetrated against our youth than the accommodation of low expectations and disrespect which has become tolerable and rife in public schools. Slowly but surely, we have enabled students to come to class unprepared and unengaged, that the world is going to roll out the red carpet of good things and good wishes. The world is already a limited place, harldy the liberal utopia of multicultural myopia which judges the good character of men and women based on their skin color of their background.

Teachers are now instructed to appease and appeal to students, earning their respect and their favor. This approach fails on many levels, not the least because the world which these students will enter following graduation owes them nothing. They cannot appeal to the well-meaning and good-feelings of prospective employers, co-workers, or consumers in order to succeed, achieve,  or even to get by in this world.

Students are receiving less discipline at home. The schools resist and discourage applying the same level of stringent expectations on their students, fearing a irate parents or expensive law-suits. The dwindling allocation of funds, coupled with students who are seeking enrollment in other schools or dropping out entirely, is cutting into the financial bottom-line of public schools, determined to maintain enrollment and revenue as much as possible, even at the expense of orderly classrooms and safe campuses.

Students do not feel safe in their own classrooms.  In a number of classes when I was subbing, students would confide to me that the class was quieter when I was there, in large part because I had no problem sending a disruptive or abusive student to the office. I enjoyed those days when I could provide a calmer learning environment for students. Certainly, I made a number of administrators mad, or at least concerned. Yet I take pride in holdings students accountable, ensuring to them that I was Extra with a Capital. I was Extra because I Cared.

Good parenting means that sometimes we will be hated. But we must esteem the well-being of our youth more than their favor. Yes, we can tell them that they do not have to like us, but we must insist that they respect the teachers, staff, and other parents. Respect is non-negotiable. Students command respect in turn, but they must not be deceived into thinking that they are equals. Deep down inside, I believe that students are hoping that a teacher, an adult will push them to the wall, hold them accountable for what they say, do, or think. Nothing shows caring like holding a kid accountable, yet we see this sorely lacking, and getting worse.