A hot topic I keep seeing pop-up across the Internet centers on sensitivity in the classroom. As an educator, I find the line between being tough and being sensitive to a students’ circumstances to be a fine one. There are clear cases where a teacher must be sensitive. For example, if a student has a death in the family, or is sick themselves, or if they suffer from high anxiety, I believe that these are the circumstances in which to be sensitive.
However, how should one react to a disrespectful student? Again, the trend is to stray away from punitive punishment and encourage meditation, online anger management classes, and talking out feelings. The impacts of this route have yet to show me, as an educator, any improvement. In fact, these “trends” seems to be just that, a quick answer for the moment.
Don’t get me wrong, in some cases, a heart-to-heart or discussion over a simple misunderstanding are adequate, but where do we draw the line and say, “Tough, the assignment is due, and if you don’t hand it in, you receive a zero”? I’ve read articles where teachers have been fired for giving zeros for incomplete work, and I know for a fact that there are districts near me that won’t allow teachers to put in any less than a “50” into the grade book, even though the student did zero work. How is this teaching any sort of accountability?
What message are we really sending our youth?
Some might argue that we live in a different time. I’ve heard people argue that kids these days all have social media and nothing is really the same as how it used to be. Once a child posts something on the internet, it is there forever and they don’t seem to have a clear concept of that idea until it is too late. Therefore, with the impact of social media, kids are more sensitive, more depressed, and more aware of their feelings.
But, what I continue to think about is that the workplace is still the same. We must still clock in and out at specific times, we must still respect deadlines, and we must, oftentimes, come to work when we are sick, tired or weary. If the concept of being a productive member of society and abiding by rules of a workplace haven’t changed, then why are we changing our expectations to the younger generation? How are they going to be prepared for the hard times that life will surely deal them? So, what is the answer here? I pose this question as not only an educator, but as a parent. I don’t want my own children ill-prepared for the expectations of the real world.
It is a difficult time to raise children and to teach children. Am I offending someone by asking them to read out loud? Am I harsh for setting deadlines in class? Am I a bad parent for telling my child ‘no’?
At the end of the day, we have to use our best judgment. Don’t throw tough love away altogether. On the other hand, sometimes your kindness is that child’s only kindness. It is imperative that we find a balance between the two and make sure our children will be ready for the real world.
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