Why Students Don't Come into School Respecting Teachers

by Pamela Lewis

Nothing in this world teaches students to respect teachers or education itself; it isn't valued. There is an overwhelming national school culture that we are wasting their time, inconveniencing them, preventing them from doing what they really want to be doing. The system has backed teachers in the corner and allowed us to become powerless. Responsibility has fallen solely on our shoulders. The blame game has allowed children to not accept any responsibility for their own learning. If it is not instilled by the parents, and often times it is not because it has not been instilled in them either, students will not respect the fact that they are being provided a free service that students in other countries don't all necessarily have the luxury of receiving. Society needs to value us in order for our children to. Depending on the teacher/the school, this culture of respect can be bred, but it is not enough, and it should not be something schools should be made responsible for. If you can get that respect from the students at your school, great. But it should not be expected that schools be the only vehicle toward educating kids to care about education. It should start at home. It should be pumped through the media. It should be present in law and policy. If they wanted all students to get what they should be getting out of schools, these things would already be in place. But, alas, that is NOT the plan. Everyone cannot be successful in life, because if we all were, the children of those in power would not have the advantage. So they let our public schools continue to suffer, while their children learn to respect the value of education in their private schools. They also will allow public schools to continue to suffer so that charter schools can come in and "save the world." This is all a part of the plan.