Making a video in class and putting it on YouTube to embarrass a teacher isn't unusual. Seven videos are making the rounds showing teachers truly frustrated by students that seem to enjoy watching them lose control. Originally posted on Dangerously Irrelevant, the videos are worth watching. I also love the follow up video on Joel's post, The Deep-Seated Problems With Public Education.
In the Dallas ISD alone, student assaults on employees and volunteers have more than doubled in the last five years. Some of the injuries occurred when teachers were breaking up fights, and most of the incidents (shoving, threatening) were considered minor. That wasn't the case for Diana May.
Diana May had to fight for retroactive assault leave pay after she fell over a tripwire at Seagoville High School. A DISD hearing officer in June awarded her nearly three months of retroactive assault leave pay and reinstated the sick days that she used to heal.
The special-education teacher landed hard on the cement, receiving multiple injuries, mainly to her neck and lower back. She spent two and a half months recuperating.
"It wasn't meant directly for me, but they could have warned me," she said of the three students punished for setting the wire in March 2006. The kids watched her fall, then ran back into a classroom, she said.
"You shouldn't have to worry about stuff like that, but you do have to worry," Ms. May said. "There's just not the respect for teachers that there used to be."
Many teachers – especially veterans – say the numbers are increasing because students show less respect for adults than a decade ago and are harder to control.
As someone who started teaching in the seventies, I agree with Ms. May. Students are not as respectful as they used to be.
Could it be that watching the actions of adults is leading to this problem of disrespect? Just think about what our children see on television. It is also common to see people yelling and honking at each other as we drive down the street. What about politicians? Are they setting good examples for children? It's up to all of us to show children by our actions how beneficial mutual respect can be.