To think kids shouldn't talk to teachers like this.

[onlyindreams]

I realise that the majority of kids will show respect to teachers but some of the stuff my dgc tell me is awful. One girl called her teacher a disgusting human being" , another said "you dirty little peado", another one said, when asked not to shout "who do you think you're talking to".

How has it all come to this, i despair, where's the respect gone, please tell me it's not all that bad and not typical of the average 12/13 year old and probably above.

I remember being in school not to long ago and hold my hands probably could have had a bit more respect but if I’m honest a fair few of the teachers themselves could have done with some social skills just because the rules say your entitled to “instruct” a student doesn’t mean you can’t do it with a bit of taste.

In life we are taught to respect one another meaning two ways surely that should start in school.

I do agree but the line is crossed when some children (and some parents) then take this to mean that a teacher has to 'earn' respect and we are hearing this more and more because the word respect has changed its meaning.

No. Just no. Respect is not earned. It is a given unless proven otherwise. If that was the stance by which all children, parents and teachers stood by, we wouldn't have half these problems.

LM9004, that is the sort of thing that my DD1 (8) has done at home, she could potentially do it at school though she hasn’t to my knowledge. She has Attachment Disorder and her behaviour is unpredictable at times. I would though be very cross if you made her stand for that length of time, that is so disproportionate, and yes I would be making a complaint. It must be too long a time surely!

I’m talking about swinging the chair btw. Some of the other behaviours described are totally unacceptable and a child should never disrespect a teacher the way kids do today.

In fact, no one is allowed to upset them because of the awful psychological damage it will do them
We reap what we sow....

So true, when my dgc were in primary school i was shocked that there were never any winners on sports day, they apparently didn't want to upset the ones who weren't any good at sports. I used to wonder what the point in it all was, why bother trying if you can't win anything. Total madness.

I do agree but the line is crossed when some children (and some parents) then take this to mean that a teacher has to 'earn' respect and we are hearing this more and more because the word respect has changed its meaning

Exactly. Also, this stuff about 'earning respect' is disadvantageous to social groups that are valued less in society than others. Lots of research has shown that in HE, students respond better to and give better feedback to white male teachers, particularly older males. They do not question their experience/knowledge etc and are assumed to be authoritative. The opposite is true of females, especially BME females and younger females. Their expertise was questioned and they were often described by students as being bossy or bitchy. People, including children are prejudiced and social prejudices run deep. If we say that teachers have to earn respect, then it will be a heck of a lot easier for some to do that than others.

Mittens

I have acknowledged that it was perhaps too long. She never did it again though.

Today i was told to do it myself when asking a child to write the date and title and a boy threatened to piss in the class after telling him he couldn't go to the toilet.

Would you be very cross if your dd did any of those things? If she didn't have attachment disorder and her behaviour wasn't unpredictable.

What if she injured herself?

This happens every day at school - one boy was witnessed shouting 'cu*t' over and over down the corridor the other day. He was sanctioned with a day in isolation only to be doing very similar the next day. Lots of children are like this these days unfortunately - when parents are told some think the teachers are lying or say 'little Johnny would never swear!' (When swearing forms the majority of their daily vocab)!

And most people get paid overtime - teachers don't

Most people working on fixed salaries do not get paid overtime.

It’s dreadful. If you spoke to a workmate like that in a workplace you’d be sacked but teachers seem to just have to take it.

I work in a EBD setting- you'd be staggered at the things I've heard from the mouths of foundation stage children. There's no way those tots could've come up with the things they say by themselves. Sadly, they often are representing their families .

I'm a secondary teacher and this is surprisingly a daily occurrence. Today I only took 3 insults and was sworn at twice... so a good day! Parents are often equally as disrespectful and are eager to blame the teacher. I took a child's phone of them for trying to take photos of me and I was told by the parent that they don't condone taking the child's property at home so I better not 'f think I can'

I am scared for this generation of kids.

Chasingdotmuncher

There are no words for it. I kept them both back at lunchtime for 15 minutes. I didn't let the boy go to the toilet either after speaking like that to me.

The thing is earning respect starts with knowing what yoU are talking about.
It then carries in with knowing how to handle a class in general
And finishes with being able to give appropriate comments to the children (from a well done to a child that might not have quite answered the question but has brought something to the discussion to stopping another child from insulting another instead of actually praising them....).

For me 'earning respect' isn't about being male, female or whatever. It's about actually showing and knowing you do know what it means to be a teacher.

There is no reason at all why a bad teacher shod be able to receive respect from the pupils. Would you respect your boss if he/she was crap? I doubt it. Same here with teachers.

Those types of children always have parents who will blame the teacher
I totally agree. The children who walk around arrogantly with a sense of entitlement and untouchability are the ones who know mum/dad will call and complain.

Respect is not earned. It is a given unless proven otherwise.
This so much.
Respect towards other people is a basic part of functioning in life and simple manners.
Anyone in my room (staff or student) has the right to respect. That means when I am talking, students don't speak over me. Or when I give an instruction, students follow it & if they have a genuine question/query they ask in a polite way. When other students give answers, the class shuts up and listens. If students are doing group work they should treat each other with courtesy. If i set cover, they treat the cover teacher with respect. If a teaching assistant gives an instruction, they follow it the same as they would with me. Students are expected to say please and thank you to each other etc. It's all respect.

This idea that people should earn respect and until an unknown point you have freedom to be rude and act however you like is a horrendous culture of entitlement which breeds bratty children and insufferable adults.

Having said that, it is clear that the language and the attitude of some of the children is equally dreadful....

Teacher I know had an incident with a pupil who refused to end a call on his mobile, he was talking to his mother who was apparently telling him to ignore the teacher. The mother then phoned the HOD screaming abuse about the teacher and demanding that the confiscated phone was returned. No deal.

The father phoned kicking off, HOD pointed out that the child was due to go on an expensive school trip and if the parents weren't back the school on discipline he wouldn't be able to go. Of course there would be no refund of the four figure sum that had been paid for the trip as per terms and conditions. Father suddenly changed his attitude and within minutes his wife was on the phone apologising. The child apologised the following day.

Brilliant result I thought.

Would you respect your boss if he/she was crap? I doubt it. Same here with teachers.

Maybe I wouldn't like them as my boss but as a fellow human being they should be respected.
I may not rate my boss, but if they asked me to do something within my role i would do it.
I wouldn't act like a brat, refuse and tell them to do it themselves.

Same with teachers. A child may not think 'great i have mr brown' but as a hukan being he deserved not to be called a cunt, spoken over and be spoken to in a way that is rude. As a teacher, it makes no difference whether yhe children like him or not. He is their teacher and they should behave themselves.

Never get this 'kids can be excused misbehaving if they don't like the teacher'. How about 'behave for your teacher and work hard because it is YOUR education and your teachers are there to teach, not ensure you get your gradrs even if you're a lazy oik with a sense of entitlement'

There is no reason at all why a bad teacher shod be able to receive respect from the pupils. Would you respect your boss if he/she was crap? I doubt it. Same here with teachers

There are some pupils who will abuse every single teacher, regardless of how good they are. Teachers at my school would get hell for various things that had nothing to do with their teaching- acne, sweat patches, a lisp, being overweight. To say it's the teacher's fault for not commanding enough respect is easy to say if you are a person who naturally commands respect. The point is that the children need have it ingrained that they respect the teacher because s/he is an expert at the subject and is qualified to teach them. Not that the teacher needs to 'prove' themselves.

And even though I don't respect/agree with all members of my senior management team, I would never swear at them or be insubordinate because if I did, I would rightly be fired.

Pengggywn

I’m not disagreeing with you at all but I also think the schools are opening themselves up for this...

Isolation was great fun and I learnt more in my time there than in classes at times and then there were what were called the “naughty” kids.

Had a special classroom in which they sat around drinking tea and eating biscuits playing games... as a school I don’t believe they should be actively rewarding children for being the worse students...

I had one teacher that actively took a disliking to me on there first day (I was only late to the class I would like to highlight) and a dislike to another student who was a little f#*¥#}r and would then only teach one of us whilst keeping the other outside the class door it was basically who turned up to class first was allowed in on that day...

I had my mum write in to move me into another class so I could have the chance of learning!!! And not the first teacher to actively take a disliking for no reason I had another scream in my face to get out of her class because I was simply explaining that my friend didn’t understand what she was explaining like I said I wasn’t no angel no some of sachets probably had ever right to hate me but some were just as bad as students...

I would like to say at this point I respect teachers for what they do put up with as the majority of them don’t deserve the way they are treated but some!!!

Respect is not earned. It is a given unless proven otherwise

This ^^

The choose to have a sanction when they choose to ignore instructions

Also this ^^ As an employer I know the awful cost of those who've never learned this lesson. Sooner or later it's something we all have to take on board, though, so it might as well be enforced in school before it's all too late

Why do you think Trevelyan is misbehaving in your lessons, Mrs Pengggwn? What do you think you might need to do differently

Sigh. Trevelyan. Just the name sums up the entire problem being discussed on this thread. (Apologies to anyone with a PFB called Trevelyan).

I respect the children, so they should respect me. I might not like every child but I don't treat them differently. What I don't appreciate is having kids threaten to piss in my class or tell me to do something myself. Speak to me how I speak to you and how I speak to my boss.