When did teacher bashing become acceptable?

[Daxx]

Who said they are "only" correcting papers? I said, we do work while sitting together. That's all. Dear Lord - thicken the skin. There was nothing negative said there. There was no implication. There was no subversive message. Nothing. Simply, we sit together and we work. No more. No less. If you read it any other way, you were looking for a problem.

Well, then, we said the same thing ... you're both doing your jobs. Good! Now we're all happy.

I'm sorry that I took it the wrong way ... but you wrote that they sit and correct papers while you email and are on the phone. It just appeared (and that's the problem w/the internet) like you were far more busy than they were b/c you were emailing and on the phone and they were just grading papers.

I wasn't looking for a problem ... it was just that I took it the wrong way. Sorry.

Who/what do you lobby for?

 

[mrsltg]

Well, then, we said the same thing ... you're both doing your jobs. Good! Now we're all happy.

I'm sorry that I took it the wrong way ... but you wrote that they sit and correct papers while you email and are on the phone. It just appeared (and that's the problem w/the internet) like you were far more busy than they were b/c you were emailing and on the phone and they were just grading papers.

I wasn't looking for a problem ... it was just that I took it the wrong way. Sorry.

Who/what do you lobby for?

No problem then!

I work for a bank and we lobby, well, not surprisingly, banking issues!!! While that may seem benign, the mortgage problems make us big, bad, and ugly.

 

[spaceacewannabe]

I have been very, very fortunate that my children have had stellar and I do mean STELLAR teachers. Not only are they wonderful people, but many have become personal friends.

When I was in school, I had a horrible experience. I am going to go all out and name names and schools.....

My parents are very involved in politics in our community, always have been. I was sent to the best private school in central GA - Stratford Academy. In fourth grade, I was "lucky" enough to gain entrance into Mr. Freelin's classroom. I was elated. He taught in somewhat of a montessori setting and had an unconventional classroom. Little did I know he was a "crunchy" liberal type and HATED conservatives (which my parents are) with a passion....hell, I was in *4th* grade, how could I know that?!!!

He knew who my parents were and treated me differently from all the other kids. Stratford was and is a very liberal school, which was not a problem with my parents at all, they wanted me to be well rounded and think for myself.

We went on "fieldtrips" all the time to out of way places. One time we went to "Falling Creek" camp in NC. We were hiking and took a break.....I sat down on the grass. Mr. Freelin piped up "Class!! Why is it that Ms. _____ gets to live, but the grass her fat *** is sitting on gets to die?!" I was 9/10 years old!!!! I just cried in silence....

We were climbing trees the next day and then swinging from a rope with some type of bar between our legs. To get up the tree, we had to be helped b/c the pegs started about 4 feet up. Mr. Freelin helped all the kids to the first peg, when it was my turn, he acted like he couldn't push me up. I was 9 years old and maybe 80 lbs. He told me I was "too damn fat". I was crushed, ashamed and just wanted to die. I ran back to the cabins and just cried by myself.

He constantly ridiculed me and I never understood it was b/c he hated my parents. One day, during parent's day - the crunchy fool decided to take the class out during a thunder storm. GUESS WHAT?!! Mr. Freelin and one of my classmates were struck by lightening (this was 1986 or 87). My classmate suffered sever brain damage. Mr. Freeling suffered severe migraines and soon quit teaching.

I couldn't find much sympathy in my heart for him. I should have told my parents of the abuse I suffered at his hands, but I didn't. I would never allow that to go on with my children and I always make a point to form a relationship with their teachers.

I was scarred, seriously SCARRED by this horrid, horrid man( I had body image issues for years) and I will make sure this doesn't happen to my children.

I'm so sorry that happenned to you; it brings tears to my eyes and I came back to the thread to reply because I felt so bad reading this. I also feel bad for the classmate that suffered brain damage, but in regards to Mr. Freeling, I couldn't help but think that karma's a b****

Also---love your tags---congrats on your hot husband!

 

[Daxx]

No problem then!

I work for a bank and we lobby, well, not surprisingly, banking issues!!! While that may seem benign, the mortgage problems make us big, bad, and ugly.

I know v. little about the banking industry other than I put my money in one, know the interest I get and they don't lecture me when I take any money out.

Since we don't carry a mortgage and I've never taken a loan out, I never know what to say when people say "I got a 2% rate on my mortgage" or "my loan rate is at 4%". I'm like "Is that good?"

I will learn if/when I need a loan, I suppose!

 

[luv2crash]

My brother is a teacher. My Dad was a teacher.

As everyone has horror stories about teachers, TEACHERS also have horror stories about students. We all assume that because we teach our children to be well behaved and respectful that everyone does. This is not the case.

There are several things that I have never experienced in my career (I am not a teacher):

***I have NEVER had anyone come into my office and take a #2 in the corner for me to find later.

***I have never had a 13 year old girl stalk me because I was the young good looking new teacher.

***I have NEVER had to break up a fight against two girls who were fighting over a boy and then have the parents threaten to sue me because I "touched" there precious daughter. I guess db should have just let them fight until someone got hurt.

***I don't have to clean up after my house has been tp'd every fall after every football game we win! My db doesn't mind this at all, he gets a kick out of it (plus they only win a few).

***I don't get visits from kids who have grown into wonderful adults and want to stop by and thank me for everything I did for them.

My brother coaches football, basketball and softball and makes a total of $60 extra a month. He pactices at least 2 1/2 hours after school and then usually has to hang around for awhile (has been as long as 2 hours) waiting for some of the parents to find time to pick up their kids.

I admire my brother, he loves his job and is a dynamic, energetic teacher. But most of all he LOVES the kids. He loves to watch them grow and is proud of their accomplishments.

It is easy to criticize when you are looking from the outside in but many times people only see a small percent of what a teacher does.

I know that there are "bad" teachers in every school system. However, for every "bad" teacher there are tons of "good" teachers.

Sorry this was so long, just felt the need to stand up for all the great teachers out there.

BTW, my db made $38,000 this year.

 

[chobie]

My Dh is a high school band teacher and there have been plenty of parents who thought he should be fired and did everything they could (including outright lying) to make it happen. Coincidentally all those parents happened to be the parents of "musical geniuses" who did not get first chair, or section leader, or drum major etc. That is why he is still working after 15 years of having parents who think he is a "bad" teacher. Many, many more parents think he is wonderful.

Yes, there are some bad teachers out there. I had one, and my kids each had one. But there are many more teachers that some parent thinks is bad just because they feel their little darling was slighted in some way.

 

[lisajl]

I have a question for the teachers and the testing they have to do.

Last year our wonderful*typed sarcastically* "demoted" a teacher from 3rd to 2nd grade.

The reason was her test scores were too low.

Why on earth are they doing that to a teacher? Some of the fault should rest with the kids?

 

[MM27]

I happen to disagree with the holier than thou attitude displayed by SOME teachers - specifically here. The point is, no one has a cake-walk job.

I don't think anyone here has had a "holier than thou" attitude. Rather, it is about respect. If you don't think you owe the teacher respect, that may be part of the problem. I teach in an urban area where respect is a big thing. Any time a child has a problem and I ask what happened, one of the kids involved will ultimately say, "he/she disrespected me" One of the things I instill in my students from day one is that in order to receive respect, you need to show respect. Unfortunately, sometimes kids get that better than adults do. Every thread that is even closely related to education always ends up turning into a "what are these crazy teachers thinking" type of thread. If you have an issue with something in your child's education, question it. But do it with the teacher because they can tell you better than anyone else why they are doing things the way they are. I don't need to know that 20 parents feel the same way because you called them all last night. Tell me what YOUR issue is and I'll try to resolve it or explain why a certain policy is in place.

Yes, I agree that some teachers have supply lists that are way beyond what should be expected. But when people start with the whole, "I pay taxes so my child shouldn't have to bring anything," it makes many teachers wonder if you know that we don't get your tax money for our supplies. Yes, when you were in school you may have only used paper and pencil. I bet when you were in school, many things were different. I know when I was in school (and it wasn't that long ago) we didn't do things the same. The fact is that education changes and when schools/districts have beliefs that fall under a particular educational camp, teachers can't just paper/pencil teach. Some districts are strict about cooperative learning, for example. That means kids are in groups, period. The class is arranged in groups, projects and learning experiences are not a solo task.

Yes, I agree that many teachers give crazy amounts of homework or assign projects/work with little educational benefit. I had to bite my tongue on that thread because, while I'm not one of those teachers, I have some strong opinions about what people are doing as their solution. Do you know that some districts have homework requirements? Check out whether your school does or not. If they do, time the kids when they are doing homework and stop them after the amount of time. Maybe there are some teachers that don't realize it's too much. I've seen assignments that I've given in class though that I believe will take 20 minutes and most kids do finish in 20 minutes. There are also kids that stare at the ceiling, sharpen their pencil 20 times, and are lucky if they get their name on the paper in 20 minutes. If that's the case, it's not an issue of too much homework, but rather time management.

My goal, and I don't want to speak for anyone else, is to enlighten people about things they do not know about education. Even my own friends and family that are not in education are surprised that it's not a 9-3 job. I don't get paid for those holidays and I need to work in the summer so I can pay bills and buy groceries. People feel that because they went through school, they know how it works. When my students complain about their homework, I show them what I do for homework. I let them look at my plan book and see what I have to turn into my principal every two weeks. Most of them are shocked. I've had parents spend the day with me before. I had one student a few years ago that was later diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. After going through the proper steps in school to try to get him evaluated I asked his mother if she would come spend the day with us. She was SHOCKED at what he did and did not do during the day, even with her there. Before that, she told me I just needed to be tougher on him, something I would not do because I knew there was an underlying problem. So I went against the mother's wishes, does that make me a horrible teacher?

Yes, I agree that some teachers should not be in the classroom. We've had a few in my school that should be gone. I would never defend them and I know all teachers are not good. In fact there was a yeller right below me for the last 2 years. Thank God she got a job somewhere else, so I won't have to hear that again this year. But the point is, every job has people that shouldn't be doing it. It's not up to the teachers to decide who should be there and who shouldn't. I had a student teacher about 4 years ago who was horrible. I worked with her until 7 o'clock at night on lesson plans, classroom management, etc. but she still did her own thing. Several times I had her supervisor in to share my concerns and when that didn't work I went to my supervisor. My hands were tied at that point so I did the only thing I could do. When it was time to grade her, I gave her an F. She is now teaching 1st grade in a neighboring district. I would never say that every teacher is wonderful. I had some myself that were great and some that I could've done without.

If you're still reading at this point I know that you at least have an open mind and are willing to understand where the teachers on this thread are coming from. We don't think our profession is greater than any other profession, but we do want respect as educated, trained, professionals.

 

[castleview]

I have a question for the teachers and the testing they have to do.

Last year our wonderful*typed sarcastically* "demoted" a teacher from 3rd to 2nd grade.

The reason was her test scores were too low.

Why on earth are they doing that to a teacher? Some of the fault should rest with the kids?

That is strange. It's been my experience that one or two variables (students) could kill an entire class's test scores. In these days of NCLB where a student with Down's syndrome or a non-English speaking student who just came to America last week have to take the test, I see a lot of low test scores in the future.

 

[MM27]

I have a question for the teachers and the testing they have to do.

Last year our wonderful*typed sarcastically* "demoted" a teacher from 3rd to 2nd grade.

The reason was her test scores were too low.

Why on earth are they doing that to a teacher? Some of the fault should rest with the kids?

Teacher in my school was moved from 4th grade to 5th grade because her test scores were too low. Makes a lot of sense right?
I think they believe they are punishing her, but I would think it's punishing the kids if there really is a problem.

 

[Daxx]

I have a question for the teachers and the testing they have to do.

Last year our wonderful*typed sarcastically* "demoted" a teacher from 3rd to 2nd grade.

The reason was her test scores were too low.

Why on earth are they doing that to a teacher? Some of the fault should rest with the kids?

Are you talking about state tests?

Some children just do not test well. They know the materials inside and out and perform well in class, show that they know and understand the materials but do not perform well on tests.

Sadly, many teachers teach to the state mandated test. For example, DS's teacher in 4th grade sending fraction homework home and DS had no idea how to do it. I had to teach him at home. Fine, whatever. Turns out the teacher told some of the parents (inc. two of my friends whose kids were in DS's class) that she was introducing fractions b/c they were on the state exam and she had to "squeeze them in" before the test and according to her curriculum, fractions weren't taught til the end of the school year. Is that her fault? She follows curriculum and the math books approved by NYS. So, why doesn't NYS look at the books and design the test around that!??! I know that the first half of 5th grade at my school used to be geared to teaching to the NYS Social Studies exam. I used to sub for Social Studies and have seen it myself. The teacher had a workbook for NYS Social Studies test skills and they're working on that, letting the text book sit until the NYS exams are over. I don't know if that still happens -- haven't been in 5th grade for awhile. Many teachers teach to the test b/c they need the results. If they can get results, if often means keeping the job. Meanwhile, the rest of the school year is crammed w/what needs to be taught for the whole year (aside from the NYS testing).

Last year, the IOWA testing people thought it might be a great idea to test Kdg. thru grade 2 students and sent our school "trial run" tests to administer. The scores meant nothing - it was just "research" for them. Well, let me tell you ... I was v. surprised w/some of the things on that test. I knew my kids would've had no clue about a lot of them, esp. coming from their socio-economic background. They were asked to circle one of three pictures that corresponded w/the word I read. Here were some of the words: banquet, pavillion, and canine. Here are the statements I had to read:
1. Put the basket in the pavillion. (drawings of a nice gazebo, a tool shed and a house).
2. We need to take the canine to the vet. (drawings of a dog, a cat and a rabbit)
3. We ate a lot at the banquet. (drawings of people eating in school cafeteria, a restaurant and at a picnic table)

OK -- when do Kdg. kids use the words canine, banquet or pavillion? And, at home, how often do you refer to the dog as the "canine" or use the words banquet or pavillion? I knew there was no way that a majority of my kids would get it. There were some other things that were a bit wacky and I thought the test to be very skewed. Almost skewed to a totally different social/economical class.

 

[Fitswimmer]

If you're still reading at this point I know that you at least have an open mind and are willing to understand where the teachers on this thread are coming from. We don't think our profession is greater than any other profession, but we do want respect as educated, trained, professionals

I'm not going to quote the entire post (I did take the time to read it) and while I understand the emotion and feeling behind it I think that EVERY working person deserves that respect. There are a lot of tough jobs out there.

I make about 1/2 of what my workout partner makes-she teaches in my town, has the same level of education that I do and has worked as long as I have. She's very aware of all the perks she gets and is grateful for them. I said good bye to her at the end of June and I won't see her at the Y again until after Labor day. I don't resent her for it, and she doesn't resent it when I can take WDW vacations in value season. I wouldn't do her job, even for the extra $$ and she wouldn't do mine even if she could make the same money.

This thread is a real example of how some teachers DO want more respect, and feel that they are deserving of it. I've seen other professions "bashed" on the DIS, but it hasn't generated this kind of response.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I agree. I am blessed to have the breaks off with my own children. Personally, I don't think I have it rougher than all people in other industries, but I do have challenges. I worked in the business world for 16 years before becoming a teacher (I was 32 when I took my first teaching job). I assure you, teachers deserve just as much respect as any other professional. I can deal with the comments, "You work 6 hours a day and get 3 months off in the summer." (I wish) I've actually said to people, "Well, become a teacher and you can too." They respond that they couldn't stand being locked up in a classroom with a bunch of kids all day. Ummm. Okay. I do not get paid for any day I don't work. I do not get paid for holidays or summer vacation. I get paid for 190 days and I work 190 days. I get paid for 40 hours and I work usually much more than that.

Teaching is the only profession in the world that is treated as if it is a privilege. We should be thankful and never complain about anything. I did not settle for teaching. I answered the Call to teach.

I never understood the "I don't get paid for summers" argument.

10 hours * 190 days = 1900 hours.

Assume that you work an additional 20 hours per month on weekends...so an additional 180 hours (9*20=180)

That is a total of 2080 hours.

The average working person works 52 weeks per year, 5 days per week, 8 hours per day. That is 2080 hours.

(Okay I sooo did not do that on purpose, I was totally putting estimates in your hours.)

While you work like a dog for ~9 months of the year, you have other times where you are NOT putting in all that work. Even if you have to prep before the school year, use some weekend time, perhaps work part of a school vacation....your work life is no different than the average working person except all your hours are condensed into a shorter time period. (since you say your work 190 days....that leaves a good chunk of days you don't work even if you put in a lot of hours in those 190 days).

You aren't necessarily working "harder" all year--you are just working differently as needed for your line of work.


Also--the difference...you don't have one boss...you have 40-60 bosses (2 parents *20 to 30 kids). You must answer to them.

Somewhere there was a huge shift in the space time continuum where parents began evaluating their kids teachers and having opinions on their performance.

Just b/c someone disagrees with what someone in your same profession has done, does not mean they have bashed the profession.

Why on earth are they doing that to a teacher? Some of the fault should rest with the kids?

Thanks to "No Child Left Behind". Even the governemtn has raised the bar on what the teacher is responsible for, even if it is beyond their control when it comes to standardized test scores. I don't believe they are a good method to measuring how effective the teacher is and whether or not they get demoted.

 

[Mkrop]

I have something to ask ....

For those of you who have dealt w/lousy teachers, what have you done about it?



Now, I told the parents that their line of complaint order was the principal, the Pastor, the Diocese.

Soooo ... do you parents sit back,watch it and gripe to your friends/this board/etc. or do you try to do something about it? If you've done something about it, how high did you have to take it? Have you been successful?

Ds9 goes to a Catholic school and until this past year when many had complaints about DS9's third grade teacher and many complaints about the 2nd grade teacher most parents did not even know going to anyone beyond the principal was even an option. I then heard of people going to the Pastor and I was shocked but it made total sense, he is her boss. But I think that is the problem many people dont know where to go once the principal does not react to complaints. Plus personally for me I alwasy get so nervous talking to a nun for some reason, working on it though

I did not have any direct complaints this past year, to me the teacher was quirky and my kid was not always directly affected so I stayed out of most of the drama, but I have friends who do not use such a nice word as quirky to describe her if you know what I mean and she did treat one little boy pretty bad even according to DS. Many did go the the principal with their issues but the principal is non confrontational, and does not like to admit when there is something wrong at her school. Many parents I know did stop complaining bc they were afraid that the teacher would take it out on their child and felt it was no longer worth the battle. I did hear though that after school ended she had a looonnnggg talk with the teacher and told her about all the complaints, and even mentioned the one boy by name. Not much help for the outgoing class but hopefully if she corrects the concerns then her incoming class this year will benefit.

 

[Daxx]

Many did go the the principal with their issues but the principal is non confrontational, and does not like to admit when there is something wrong at her school.

That's when you have to go up to the next link in the chain of command. Principal not doing it? Go to pastor (or superintendent in public). That not working, continue to the next link until someone gives you an answer. They don't have to fire the teacher, but if they tell you she's been warned, she had a talking to, etc., I think parents would feel better about the situation. I'm sure that if someone told you they were looking into it, it'd make you feel better, too.

Many parents I know did stop complaining bc they were afraid that the teacher would take it out on their child and felt it was no longer worth the battle. I did hear though that after school ended she had a looonnnggg talk with the teacher and told her about all the complaints, and even mentioned the one boy by name. Not much help for the outgoing class but hopefully if she corrects the concerns then her incoming class this year will benefit.

Unfortunately, waiting til the last day of school did nothing for the class that she had. A good principal should be able to voice concerns and put it into context of things that he/she has observed, rather than saying "Parents are complaining". The principal can start as "I've noticed that ...".

Last year, my principal came in and asked me about the butterfly project that the kids worked on the day before. I thought it odd as he never questioned my lessons in the past, but I explained that it was done w/my student teacher, that I approved the concept and watched to be sure things went smoothly. I explained that she gave the students pre-printed words which they glued onto lines pointing to each part of an illustrated butterfly that was on their paper. I explained that she had an enlarged version on the chalkboard and was doing it along w/the students, so they could follow what she was doing. As she went along, she discussed each part and how/what it was used for. For example, she said "This is the head. What letter does head begin with?" and then told them to find the word that started w/the letter h. He said "Oh, ok". Then, later in the day he said "Oh, the thing w/the butterfly ... apparently one of the children got 2 wrong and the parent thought that the kids were given the words and told to glue them down w/o being able to read the words". Why the parent didn't come to me is still beyond me. I still don't know which parent came in to complain b/c I didn't correct those papers. But, the principal was able to get to the point w/o naming names.

In turn, I have to sometimes set children at desks that are more "private" when giving a test b/c I have a lot of "paper peekers". I need to know if they get it or they don't. Once my principal came in during testing and asked why "Sarah" and "Kevin" were sitting so far apart from their classmates. I explained that they have a tendency to paper peek and I need to know what their individual abilities are rather than how well they can copy off of a friend. He said fine and left. I found out at the end of the day that one of the kids was telling Mommy that I made them sit away from their friends all the time and that was b/c I hated them. Uh ... so not true. I'm sure the principal was quietly observing my classroom from time to time and when he saw the kids separated, he stopped in to find out why. I'm sure he immediately called the parents and explained the situation.

I am sure that if the principal went in w/a generic conversation about the classroom and noted personal observances, the teacher wouldn't take it out on the kids.

 

[Daxx]

This thread is a real example of how some teachers DO want more respect, and feel that they are deserving of it.

I don't want more respect ... I don't think I deserve any more respect than you'd give to anyone else.

 

[Kath2003]

The problem a lot of the time is that kids go tell their parents something negative about the teacher, or they receive a bad mark. Usually most parents ask the most sensible question, "What did my child do to warrant this?" which is normally easily answered by the teacher (they cheated on a test, or they didn't do their homework assignment).

The problem is the small number who ask "Why is my child being victimised?".

Why would any teacher risk their livelihood by victimising a child? Why would they create extra work and hassle for themselves, invite themselves open to questioning and scrutiny without a good reason?

 

[JimB.]

When did teacher bashing become acceptable?

Haven't read the whole thread, but to the OP -

It's not. At least to me.

Anytime my DW & I have had "teacher" issues, it has ALWAYS been settled via conferences. No Problem. "Bashing" is too often (IMHO) making an excuse for a student's difficulties. Which could probably be solved with increased parental involvement in a child's education.


Ouch!! Just slipped off the soapbox. Darned thing is slippery!!

 

[SavvyMom]

School has been in session for 8 days. We just finished our first full week. I've already had visits/calls from four parents about something that went on in my classroom. This is very unusual in my school. We have very low parent involvement.
Parent #1 - "Mary said that she got in trouble for saying Your mama is so fat that she could roll out the door (I heard this). She said Kelly started it and Kelly didn't get in trouble. My child would never say anything to anybody unless they were messing with her." I explained that I took Mary and Kelly into the hall seperately and spoke with them privately. I told her that it was inappropriate to talk about someone else's mama regardless of what the other child had done.
Parent #2 - "I want to know why Billy is getting a frowny face every day." I told her that Billy talks almost constantly and pushes/shoves other children if he gets within two feet of them..
Parent #3 - "Kelly is getting frowny faces every day. What did she do?" I told her that Kelly talks constantly and does not do her work. Yes, this is the same Kelly as above. I told her Kelly is having problems getting along with other children.
Parent #4 - "Bobby said he got in trouble for breaking something and the other boy who really did it didn't." I told her that both boys were playing with my 'magic wand' and it got broken. I didn't think Bobby broke it, but he was playing with something that he knew not to touch (I saw him).

Do I resent these parents? Absolutely not! I am very grateful that they called/visited me to find out what happened. I much prefer that parents do this than accept their child's word without question and get angry with me or the other children. All of these parents were respectful and concerned. I respect them for being involved with their children and handling it like they did. I have had parents come in and cuss me out when I wasn't even sure why they were angry, but that's beside the point. I am thrilled that I have these parents this year.

 

[djm99]

I'm sorry if what I'm about to write is unpopular, but I have to write this. The teaching profession is one of the MOST important jobs in this society. Yes there are many professions, and yes so many in our society work hard, but how many people in America have not been taught by a teacher. Teachers guide individuals into professions. We are the ones that encourage, stimulate, and shape futures. How many other professions out there serve almost every American? A person can go almost their whole life and never see a doctor (until death), never meet the president of the US, never need a plumber, never use a bank, grow their own foods, and so on - but how many people can honestly say that they have NOT been taught (at some point) by a teacher.

Yes there are not so great teachers, and yes some need some counseling themselves but the majority of us work our behinds off. The people that get into the teaching profession do it because they care. We really want to make a difference, and make this world a better place. It’s surely not because of the money. Yes we have summers off, winter breaks, and spring breaks - but many (many being me) don't get paid during that summer break - so we have to stretch that poor salary all year around. With all of that said, many of you can compare how hard you work, your husbands work etc. But how many of you haven't been taught by a teacher at some point of your life? That's how important teacher are?

To the OP, teacher bashing comes into play because few have taken that trust and respect and made of mess of things. Teachers use to have such a high moral status. Now we (I used we, but not me) are disrespecting kids. We talk to them crazy; we come down to a kid level, we sleep with kids, and become their friends instead of their mentors. Because of the indiscretions of some, people (some people) automatically don't trust teachers. Our trust has to be earned.