A Safe Space, Not a Source of Fear

Parents send their children to school with full trusts that the teachers will be responsible in taking care of them.

Teachers are like the second parents of the students. We're all familiar with that. Teachers are not just the facilitators of lessons and activities inside the classroom, but they are also responsible in taking care of the students' welfare — considering their learning difficulties, behavior towards everyone in the classroom, needed assistance/guidance, and among others.

They may impose such roles inside the classroom, not intended to cause fear but to maintain such peace and comfort within the said space.

They may act strictly towards their students to discipline them, but not to cause fear. But I guess, some teachers didn't know that one.

Some say that corporal punishment isn't wrong at all because it can teach students to have discipline, which is partly true. Some youths nowadays aren't scared of their teachers already because they hold unto that ace (under code of ethics for professional teachers) that they cannot be harmed by teachers physically. They easily think of reporting such teachers to higher authorities if something doesn't go on their plans.

But, what about those good students who are striving to finish their studies yet they are receiving negative treatment from someone they think as their second parent?

To give you an example... I have my customer days ago who shared a story about the treatment of one of the teachers in the elementary school in our barangay towards her son. She went to school with her son weeks ago to get modules and feeding assistance. Everything was fine and she knows that she and her son didn't do something wrong, but there was a time when a teacher pinched her son's ear without any reason. I asked her "maybe you're son did something wrong?" But she clearly said "NO". She saw with her two naked eyes that her son was just silently standing next to her yet the teacher suddenly showed up and pinched him in the ear. Maybe the teacher did it instead of saying "excuse me" if ever that she was about to passsed by the said area. And maybe, she didn't notice that the parent of the kid he just pinched was there.

That teacher was even the current adviser of my customer's son, so from that time, the kid's attendance suddenly dropped. The kid doesn't want to go to school now because he's afraid of her teacher. He is afraid to get pinch again without any valid reason.

As much as I want to make fair judgments in this situation, the fact that the said teacher has been behaving negatively since then make me feel bad about her. She's known by many students as a very strict teacher without proper discipline at all. Most of her students are afraid of her because of her anger issues and unfair treatments. She's fond of saying bad words even inside the school premises. And take note, she doesn't only act negatively towards the students, but to the parents as well. She's not bothered to command the parents to clean and organize her classroom, without even using polite words (just purely commanding like a boss). She doesn't know how to address someone older than her, and just think of everyone as poor individuals she can easy manipulate and belittle.

Every elementary student (with their parents) in our barangay hate her, but she can't be easily reported since her family has a strong connection with the higher authorities here.

Her students barely go to school because of fear, considering the fact that she's giving punishments without any valid reasons. Instead of considering the school as a safe space for them to learn and make friends, it becomes their source of fear because of that teacher.

However, we believe that her time will come, and karma will haunt her for her negative acts and behavior.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I am not generalizing here, and I have no hidden grudges among teachers out there. It's just that, I can't help but to express my thoughts towards those teachers who think that being fully strict and using corporal punishment for no reason make them stand out.

It's okay to teach students a lesson (in a nice way) for them to not commit the same mistakes again, but to humiliate, hurt, and cause traumatic experience to students even without any valid reason will never be acceptable.

Author's Note:

First of all, I want to say thank you for leaning your time to read this article. I hope, you gained valuable knowledge from it that may help you in whatever aspect you have there.

Second, thank you for those who are supporting me in my journey here. From my readers, sponsors, and friends, thank you for always being there.

Lastly, I hope we will all have a prosperous day everyday, and a life full of blessings from above. Godbless us all. ❤️

Date Published: June 23, 2022

Lead Image: Unsplash

GIF: Edited in Canva