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From the Chalkboard: Parents need to support teachers so they can teach!
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Although most schools across the Golden State are closed for the summer, much work is taking place behind the scenes as district office personnel are engaged in teacher recruitment activities to ensure that all classes have a qualified teacher when the fall term begins. Contributing to the problem is teacher retention. Research showing a direct link between good teachers and academic achievement makes it important that good teachers are hired and retained. Estimates vary, but approximately 20 percent of our nation’s teachers leave the teaching profession in the first five years, many after their first year. Although many leave for financial reasons, others leave due to frustrations over student behavior that hinder them from being successful in the classroom. While the large majority of students are well-behaved, far too many kids enter class each day pushing the limits of acceptable behavior, unwilling to respect basic standards of respect and civility. I think most educators would agree that much valuable instructional time is wasted dealing with disruptive students who have little regard for school rules. My how times have changed! I vividly remember my first and only brush with school law enforcement. It took place at Jefferson Elementary School when I was in the first grade. During morning recess, without any malicious intentions of desecrating school property, I mindlessly plucked several little red berries from the branch of a pyracantha bush that had found its way through the playground’s chain link fence. I was quickly accosted and reprimanded by the playground authorities that such actions might very well land me in Mrs. Lawson’s principal’s office, where discipline would be swift, sure and possibly painful. For several days I waited for my summons to appear to give an account for such an egregious offense. I held my breath whenever I walked the hallway requiring me to pass by her door. The mere thought of having to enter this ominous room gave me chills and a strange feeling in my stomach. Although I was never called, I spent many anxious days and nights fearing for my future as a student. It was in first grade that I resolved to never break any rules that would occasion a visit to the principal, such as running in the hall, getting out of line or grabbing a quick drink of water after the bell. School discipline continues to capture the attention of educators in many of our schools. In a recent survey, Public Agenda found that given a choice between better student behavior and parental support or a significantly higher salary, 86 percent of new teachers would choose better support and student behavior. A recent edition of Education Week indicated that nearly seven in 10 middle and high school teachers said their schools had serious problems with students who disrupt class. Others said their school had persistent troublemakers who should be removed from regular schooling. Teachers unanimously complain about disrespect, insolence, poor attitudes, tardiness and general apathy toward education. Contributing to the problem are permissive parents who have contempt for school discipline policies and take their student’s side whenever correction is needed. Nearly eight in 10 teachers say they could teach more effectively if they didn’t have to spend so much time dealing with disruptive students. While there would be little debate that standards of behavior have deteriorated, determining the causes of the decline would probably be more elusive. Having been an educator for the past 40 years has afforded me the opportunity to experience the changes that have taken place. In earlier years, standards of behavior were based on religion and morality. The teaching of piety and virtue was foremost in the minds of men who wrote our Constitution. The Bible was an essential part of American education before the judicial activism of the early 1960s. Throughout the 19th Century and into the 1940s, K–12 government schools generally taught children moral principles that, if not always explicitly Christian, were at least compatible. Although I have not conducted an official survey, it is my feeling that the majority of Americans continue to recognize that our country was founded on religious freedoms and a reliance on God. Unfortunately, atheists and secularists — who represent a small minority of our population — have had great success in keeping this reality out of our schools and public life. Such groups are always quick to attack our schools and government entities any time expressions of Christian values are brought up. During my early years in school, such values and principles provided direction for behavior. Parents were notified whenever rules were broken, and supported the school by meting out additional discipline at home. Such principles have now been replaced with the concept of moral relativism. The only accepted virtue is tolerance — not being judgmental — not imposing value and judgment on others, but valuing differences. Each person determining what is right in his own eyes. Children must decide what is “right for them.” With prayer, Bible-reading, the Ten Commandments and other vestiges of our Christian heritage expelled from our schools and culture, our nation’s youth are left morally adrift. It is little wonder that we are reaping generations of young people who lack a moral base for making decisions and choices that lead to righteous living, good citizenship and appropriate behavior. Fortunately, Bakersfield has some very excellent educators who are working hard to provide an orderly learning environment. Unfortunately, they have to deal with difficult behavioral issues without the advantage of a generally accepted moral base. Finally, I have this admonition for parents: support your school leaders. Be an ally to your school by insisting that your kids stay well within school rules and behavior standards. You are the ones responsible for your kid’s behavior, not the school. Yes, your child has freedoms, but also a responsibility to do what is best for the group as a whole. Your cooperation and support will go a long way toward making your school an orderly place where teachers can do what they are hired to do and do best — teach! E-mail Dick at: dferris@bakersfieldfirst.com

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