Teachers Are People Too

Yes, students harrass their teachers. It's happening to me. You might think that they are just kids, but it can be very damaging to a person's psyche to have a constant barrage of disrepect.

My car has been tagged.
My classroom door has been graffittied with epithets directed at me.
Students have written out detention slips to me saying I'm a shitty teacher.
Graffitti has been left in other places in my classroom saying that I'm a fatass.
My computer has been hacked.
Students answer back and disrespect me.
A student swiped my keys when I took her soda away from her.
Students spread lies about me and then report me to the principal.
Students have threatened to get me fired.

If these were adults, this would be considered to be mobbing. However, because they are children, they are excused or dismissed. It is only considered serious when students attack each other. Children who engage in these behaviors often grow up into adults who continue to engage in these behaviors.

Teachers have feelings too. We don't get into teaching to become the enemy to our students. We are distressed that they make us the enemy. We wanted to teach to help students, because we love what we know and we want to teach it to others.

Teachers are people too! Please be kind to us!

For more on community-based harrassment: http://www.c-a-t-c-h.ca/

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March 16th--Just an update, things are going better. It's like I have some kind of initiation into the schools where I teach. Now they tell mw about the teachers they REALLY hate.