As the end of the fall semester approaches, students developing disrespectful attitudes towards teachers seems to approach even quicker.
This conflict is a true reflection of the decreasing respect that students withhold for their teachers. According to The Harris Poll, adults comparing their past school dynamics to their children’s present school dynamics said respect in the classroom dropped from 79% to 31%.
The question is, what’s causing this?
Many might agree that advancements in technology take a huge part of this conflict. When the parents of Gen-Z were growing up, the only device carried around was a Walkman. They didn’t have the use of computers or mobile phones at their fingertips, which meant less distractions and more respectful attitudes in the classroom. There weren’t Tik Toks to watch or Instagram feeds to scroll through, resulting in a more mentally engaged society.
A high school student myself, I constantly observe teachers arguing with students over phone usage on a daily basis. This has become such a severe issue that students no longer listen when asked for 30 minutes of simple attentive respect by their teacher. As this issue increases in time, more students begin choosing phones over the people handing them their
futures.
In addition, restrictions on school campuses are also a factor. Before the increasing rates of harmful school disasters, schools allowed much more responsibility among their students, like off-campus eating. On top of that, schools overall felt like a safer environment. Students didn’t have to fear for their lives when walking into the building each morning, unlike present day.
Now, some schools have enforced unbelievable restrictions in order to ensure the safety of students, but it only causes them to retaliate even more. The constant stress of not feeling safe at school, along with having to maintain the rules that continue to pile on each year, is a lot to handle. This leads to students becoming angered with the district policies, which reflects how they act in the classroom towards their teachers.
Many people, including me, are worried about the future of our education system, and the future for our teachers. There are so many things these people go through behind the scenes that students take for granted, which is truly heartbreaking to know. Our educators deserve much more recognition than what they receive.
So the big question is, how can we change this?
Simply having self-awareness of the actions used towards teachers will resolve a huge part of the situation. This includes making eye contact while the teacher talks, giving small affirmation signals, and just responding with kind words. Making these small adjustments to your attitude towards educators will change the whole classroom environment, and it will most definitely make their day.
Teachers truly care about the success of their students and strive every day to make that possible.
So, offer kindness to your teachers every time you enter their classroom. Not only will it create a positive environment, but it could increase the possibility of getting a few extra points on that test you failed.