Teaching Respect
Educators are routinely blamed for our country's ills without receiving credit for its successes. In a society that fails to respect the work of those who labor on the educational frontier, instilling respect in students is difficult. Modern heroes don't toil in classrooms; they dribble balls across a stadium floor or swagger across a silver screen. When success is measured by the size of a paycheck, teachers look like failures. Even as the makers and sellers of widgets and whatnots live in luxury, outstanding teachers may have to moonlight to support a family. Futuristic skyscrapers filled with high-tech information systems dot the landscape of major cities, while teachers in crumbling buildings are given chalk and a blackboard and told to have at it. It is understandable that those who aspire to more would see a career in teaching as settling for less.
It's important to tell your tween that he must respect his teacher, but it's more impressive to seize opportunities to point out in everyday conversation the vital role that teachers play. Let your child know that by educating tomorrow's parents and employees, teachers hold our country's future in their hands.
At their best, teachers not only impart knowledge, they also instill confidence and inspire a love of learning. Support your child's teachers by insisting that he behave respectfully toward them. Even if he doesn't like them, he must not disrupt the classroom.
When a middle school student groused about having so much homework, her mother said, “It's a lot for you and even more for your teachers. With five classes and twenty-five students per class, that's 125 papers to grade! That's a
If your district can't pay its chalkboard heroes the salaries that they deserve, at least you can accord them the esteem they merit and insist that your tween do the same.
