_Jessie Staley is a freshman studying political science at MU. She is an opinion columnist who writes about student life for The Maneater._
Teachers are our leaders, role models and confidants. They are the ones who slave away, grading papers through the night and rambling off information every day in an effort to make us retain it. They are the ones who mediate our arguments with friends during recess. They are the ones who expect more of us, who want us to improve, who want us to succeed. Sometimes, society forgets the important role teachers play in all of our lives, and I think sometimes teachers forget, too.
Self-esteem can either build or plummet at school. One bad peer altercation may not be the end of the world. But when those altercations become a routine occurrence, it becomes a problem. It is the school’s, and especially the teacher’s, duty to know the difference and stop the issue before it starts.
Teachers must be held accountable for what they say and do in the classroom. Just like kids mimic their parents, they also can mimic their teachers. Yelling in the classroom, telling a kid who was just humiliated by a group of other students to “shake it off” or dismissing the obvious issues a child may be going through, whether at home or school, are things that should never be done by a teacher. Bullying, teasing, harassment, whatever you want to call it — these are major issues in society, and it starts in the classroom. It is the teacher’s responsibility to stop harassment before it becomes a social norm.
My kindergarten teacher was the reason I didn’t go to kindergarten for more than a week when I was five. I had to transfer schools. She would intimidate and yell at her little kindergarten class, full of 4- to 6-year-olds, on a regular basis. A boy wouldn’t stop talking to me in class, and she used a four-color strike system as a weapon. She made me feel like the smallest person on the planet. She would have loved the zero-tolerance policy.
The zero-tolerance policy is a very intense, yet popular, way schools have combatted bullying and insubordination, but it sometimes can create a punishment-oriented atmosphere in school instead of the ideal learning atmosphere. Zero-tolerance is a school mandate that requires a set range of punishments for breaking certain rules, no matter why the rule was broken. It does not consider mitigating circumstances, self-defense or the severity of the act. Some children can get suspended for playing rough or defending themselves when a bully hits them. It is a policy that does not concern itself with the well-being of the child.
This policy was definitely gaining steam in my grade school. I remember the countless times in middle school when the two female teachers between our eighth grade class would target the boys, looking for any reason to reprimand them or send them to the office. Don’t get me wrong, my class was horrible, but it wasn’t just the boys, and the girls would definitely encourage our teachers’ behavior. One time in class, a girl was messing around, talking in class, and the teacher turned around and yelled at the boy sitting next to her.
Teachers need to make an effort to know and help their students before punishing them. They need to teach them honesty and kindness and tell them why those are good characteristics to have. When a student treats another badly, it is important that the teacher inquires as to the circumstances, shows them that their actions or words were wrong and presents a better course of action. Kids are open to learning. They are malleable and innocent. It is imperative that teachers give students the opportunity to learn before punishing them.
Before teachers enter the classroom, they need to put away their biases. They need to refuse to take sides and be the symbol of truth and altruism that students might not witness otherwise. It is time to make teachers accountable for every action and word said in their classroom, either by themselves or by their students. It is time to change the social norms and not punish bullying, but eliminate it. School should be a safe and academic environment. Teachers are the ones who are responsible for maintaining that experience.
