You Shouldn't Have to Risk your Life to Teach

There seems to be this epidemic spreading across this country, and as usual, it doesn't seem like our government wants to do anything about it.

One of the headlines I'm getting sick of seeing is about teachers and educators being attacked during the school day by students. Sometimes they are separating the students from each other, other times they are the victims of the attack.

Why aren't we protecting our teachers? It could just be me, but these are some of the most important people in our society, next to doctors. Teachers shape every single one of us, yet they get the least amount of respect. Why is this?

We are responsible for your children for around six hours of the day. If they started hitting and attacking you at home, you would lay down the law and explain that you do not hit people. Hopefully, you would give the child some other ways to work through their frustrations and anger and whatever else they need to work through. Why do students think it's okay to lay hands on an educator?

Don't get me wrong, when I was in high school, there were a couple of teachers who were mean enough to me and treated me so awfully, I thought about how great it would be to sock them in the jaw. But here's the thing, I never ever did. I never acted upon that thought because my parents taught me that putting your hands on someone is never okay.

There are a handful of high schools near me where students are fighting and the staff are getting seriously injured, and the town's responses include installing metal detectors and 1-2 additional school resource officers per town.

Can anyone explain to me how a metal detector stops a punch from being thrown? Can anyone explain how having one more officer will stop things from happening in 30 classrooms or so?

Let's hold these kids responsible. If they are going to abuse their educators, then they should be suspended. You clearly aren't ready to be in the classroom. They shouldn't be allowed back until they apologize to the teacher, go through some counseling with a school guidance counselor, and make amends and actually learn something from the experience. Separate the kids who are fighting. Get them the things they need.

I don't understand why we can't combat this issue further. I could go off on my tangent about how parents don't parent anymore (and yes, that's coming from a young parent in her late 20s), but maybe I'll save that for another post. Please don't say the typical "the parents would have a field day if we actually started reprimanding their kids" or anything like that. Why is it that parents don't really care about their students' educational career until they become the problem? And even then, the parents typically refuse to believe that their child could cause any sort of problem or disruption. Give your kids literally five minutes of your day and watch how fast their attitude starts to turn around.

Teaching should never be a life-risking profession. It should be a job where you get joy from how well your students are doing, not be terrified to be alone in a classroom with them.