Students today don't face the same consequences for misbehaving or not doing their work that their parents and grandparents faced. One thing that really stands out to me is that a lot of parents are more likely to support their kids than the school. It is seldom the child's fault.
Parents used to fly into action to support the teachers and their decisions. Teachers could call home, and the homework would show up the next day, by golly. There would be consequences at home if a child broke the rules at school.
One of my worst experiences was calling a parent to let her know that her daughter never brought a book to read during the designated silent reading period held throughout the school. This mom yelled at me, called me names, and probably made my blood pressure go up to the boiling stage. Of course, it was my fault for not sending her daughter to the library. She didn't care that the library was closed to the entire school during this time or that I had sent numerous notes home about this specific requirement. It was the responsibility of the students to bring suitable reading material for this time period, and they were allowed to go to the library at other times. (The principal actually walked the halls to make sure we were all in compliance.) I was only following the rules that my principal had established for the entire school. Needless to say, I never called that mom again.
Somehow, throughout the years, I found that as a teacher, I was the one that faced the consequences when something went wrong. What happened?
