Why does a previously well-behaved child suddenly become angry, truculent and depressed at school? We all know why really, don't we? The child has started to be abused physically and/or sexually at home by perhaps a parent, step-parent, priest, etc. Does anyone honestly think it will help deal with the problem to punish and beat the child at school? I thought not.
So every child who changes at, say, 13 and becomes a bit wild is having Uncle Fester knock on their door at night? Biggest over generalisation in ages Hormones, parent splitting, wrong crowd, peer-pressure, drugs, abuse is one of the potential reasons
But the main reason is because a lot of kids are spoilt to death and allowed to run riot by their parents, who then defend their kids terrible behaviour...no-ones allowed to pull them up whether it's a teacher or the filth,so the sprog never learns right from wrong...
Such a well informed response. I will pass it on to my wifes school where she and all the other teachers and staff will be made redundant as of July when it is being closed. Many of the school staff are paid for 39 weeks of the year only, it is just divided by 12 monthly payments. They get no holiday pay at all. It should also be noted that only 1 union is striking and none of the schools locally here are striking or have done in previous disputes either. That pattern is not unique to my region either.
It's interesting ... Hormones are a biggy !!! Also respect has gone out of the window. i knew if I pushed too far I was in for a wallop. Did I push it well I tried not to .. I was never a bad kid. The times when I did push it I got it So much so I packed my bags at 17 and legged it. My parents where trying to stop me getting in with the wrong crowd. sadly by disciplining me they made me run. I ran into a worse situation to be honest . if they had of listened to me I would have probably been a teacher , married and sorted. Beating a child does nothing in the end you run. You need a combination of discipline and being able to turn to your folks. And having respect . I ended up getting hit .. all it did was make me hate my folks and run away. I still to this day don't have much of a bond there . my sister was way naughtier then me did worse at school and now has a successful business a nice house and a good relationship with my family . Im sorry but in the end the slaps and threats of a beating in the end I said well go on then and took it .. I then packed a suitcase quit my college place and ran. Did I skive off school ? No Did I do drugs ? No Did I steal ? No ? I won a prestigious college place for fine art. My work was highly thought of. My teachers where amazed at my work. I came in a few times late .. At night. My dress code wasnt the latest fashion and I was concidered an embaressment to my family. Did not matter I was basically a good kid who held done several jobs I didn't look the part and nor did my friends. Was I abused by someone no. I had strict parents. So next time you think kicking the shit out of a kids going to sort them out please think again. Causing me to run as I had no choice pushed me into a dreadful situation that effectivley took me from a talented grade A student to well a mess ... Im a parent .. I'm not my kids friend .. I find being a parent tough as I feel like a big kid myself. I battle as I try to enforse good things into my lads like manners , hard work , respect . I also battle with I think my ex is way too soft on them ... He treats them and buys them. I don't. sometimes I feel like banging my head against the wall as I'm the only one trying to steer them possitively .. They have said I moan at them too much. But if I don't who will? would I beat them ?? No . most parents admit it or not have smacked tapped whatever. id raise an eyebrow if anybody said never . But beating ?? No .. we are humans ffs... the quickest way to destroy a child or even a young adult is to beat them into a wreck. You may get up and walk away . But it has a severe lasting effect. I tollerate my folks and honestly I think they did it out of fear . It wasnt regular either but the last time was it for me. My parents are not bad people. Take a dog .. If you beat it badly once everytime you then raised your hand to that dog it would flinch . Eventually if you kept doing that one time out of the blue that dog will turn back badly on you. It may take a while but eventually it will bite. Then it's bad dog ..... Savage dog.. Same for humans. I flinched .. The next person noticed and did it more and more .. Eventually followed through and for a long time I backed off...withdrew One day I didn't .... I bit him back Nobody will ever hit me again ... It won't happen. Hitting and violence doesn't work .. It either breaks people or it perpetuates. Either way the outcome is not possitive. Consquences work ... Building a kid up but if they do step out of line you say right the consequence is you loose ... Is a powerful tool . A punch in the head doesn't solve much. In fact it can lead to worse things down the line. please don't do it ...... It lead me into so much more dreadful things.... Not me being dreadful ( I wouldn't be working with children if I was dreadful ) Consequences , if your a parenting couple stand firm ..., stand as a parental unit. Every child will try and play one parent off against the other . Stand firm. Single parents stay firm ... Dont take any nonsence but say why..... If your child respects you they will come to you and talk to you even if they know your going to be mad. if you know that your going to get a beating your never going to say anything. If you find out an issue early on you can often sort it out. if someone can't come to you and say I've messed up... because they know they will get a punch in the head or something. believe me the next time you hear something it's either going to be something way worse or your child will run. If they run at a young age they are then prey for far worse. Dont be a soft touch , kids needs to learn about consequences , if they do well praise them. if they are on an iffy path intervene but not with violence. Schooling should be pretty much the same. I felt I had to say that as a kid who had a strict upbringing. oh my sister was raised far less strictly and has done way better then me !! Even though I was the smart one If you want to discuss please ask away ..... I did not have a bad terrible childhood ... I was bullied as my parents divorced when it was not the done thing I was raised by my step Dad as well. Hes a good chap at heart. i never went without ... but I worked for my stuff !!! yeah if I was naughty I got my dinner or something I hated served up for breakfast cold. My earliest memory as a young child was being force fed sausages . Meat made me sick but nobody would listen. My most vivid memory was being force fed sausages and being sick . i then tried to swallow it by drinking milk ... I remeber getting told off for being sick That memory is as clear as a bell for me. no it didn't make me eat meat.
It is always easier to merely criticise others rather than offer meaningful and constructive ideas for improvement or change. E.g. The opposition in Parliament (whoever they are), auditors of statutory accounts, the media (on any subject), parliamentary select committees, etc.
39 weeks a year paid or less is correct . you can't find additional work in those unpaid weeks . You can't have ANY time off in school term time. I can't afford to go on holiday in peek time. If you offer to have unpaid time off and make up the time as well... It's rejected. I asked for one hour off unpaid to go to my Birthday treat . one hour unpaid ... I needed no cover , I offered to do 5 additional hours on my non working non paid day to make up for one hour. I was marched into the heads office and given a lecture. The answer is no and do not ask again. oh your kids are receiving awards at school or doing something.. try explaining to a little kid that unlike all the other mothers who where able to book a day off to go see them and help study you can't ever again because your new boss won't be flexible. Yet if your asked to drop everything and do something and loose your lunch for days ... you can't say no or your disciplined .
I've watched all the posts on this thread without response but can't help myself now. After 34 years in the business, I took early retirement (with a severely-reduced pension) because, as I said at the time, "I can't stand the crap any more". I agree with the post above by He11cat - no-one tells you when you join that you can't take holiday during ofF-peak times, you can't have a pee when you like, or a coffee. When I moved to a "normal" job, I didn't miss: Bus duty on a rainy evening in Winter; Parents' Evenings (compulsory) straight after school until 11:00; Break Duty and Lunch Duty (filling-up your "free time"); and I never used the ability to run down a corridor carrying a cup of coffee after I left! Delights from the Management included the attitude that referrals of bad behaviour counted against the teacher - deeming you a "bad teacher" if you referred too many students. OFSTED helped too, by coming in determined to find fault. "Holidays" were taken up with marking and preparation for at least a couple of weeks, and my wife used to say I didn't become human until at least two weeks after the end-of-term. Working in normality has been an eye-opener. Much more relaxed, with far less pressure and more acceptance that you are a human being.Far less confrontation and much more appreciation from people. Job security was nil - I was made redundant once, after 25 years of successful teaching - the days of a job-for-life went in the '90s - experience makes you more expensive and more easily replaced by a younger model. It was accepted that your salary was calculated over your teaching career - less in the early days due to lack of experience and skill, building up over the years as these improved. Once teaching was graded on a par with doctors, accountants, police inspectors - that seems to have been downgraded. Having lost my "normal" job in 2011, I really could have done with the money, but I never considered returning to teaching - it simply wasn't worth the candle. A great shame - I loved passing on what I knew to others (still do) and found the actual job of "performing" in front of a class great - it was the rest of the baggage, as well as the constant, corrosive behaviour of politicians and their partners like Chris Woodhead and Michael Wilshaw. Now, at the age of 61, after 20 months out of work, I have a "normal" job again, and am looking forward to it.Part-time and poorly-paid, but an incentive and something to look forward to in the mornings. Like all of humanity, there are bad, middling and good teachers. I found most of my colleagues great and they have my respect and admiration, but I wouyldn't go back to join them, now that I've found out what work outside is like.
I draw a line between those who hold responsibility and those who do not. Government ministers and school heads are among those who are held responsible, morally and legally, for their areas. The media and OFSTED are among the ones who hold no responsibility for anything - their function is merely to criticise others who have.
Pete - I couldn't agree more. I have seen OFSTED refuse to obey both the Freedom of Infornmation Act, and the Data Protection Act. They are entirely self-regulating, and as such are accountable to no-one. They are therefore free to enforce their own form of "social-engineering" on to the education system, from nursery schools to colleges...
I disagree. There is always something to lose, and admittedly potentially something to gain - for both sides. I have every sympathy with both employers and employees when they are both hamstrung by an impasse created by the obsession to create shareholder value (or meet budget targets) on the one hand and over zealous union officials on the other. If only common sense could be applied in such matters. In the great scheme of things, teachers are not poorly remunerated, but their ability to do their job effectively is hampered by OFSTED, the dilution of family values and the dreaded "political correctness" in my opinion. This also creates undue stress for, and loses the engagement of, the very group of people who have the responsibility to educate the youngsters who will be the future of this country and should prepare the ground for future generations. Both sides should stop taking the piss, remove themselves from their entrenched positions and the negotiators should stop posturing for the media and sort it fucking out. While I am on the subject, could the relevant authorities reinstate the core learning requirement of Mathematics, English Language and English Literature from first principles? Using maths as the example, I am ok if kids use computers for calculations, as long as they know how to use a calculator before that, and a slide rule before that, and log tables before that, and algebra before that. Need I go on? Otherwise, we will end up with a generation of kids who use spreadsheets and spell checkers without the faintest idea of what is behind them, and fuck knows what the unintended consequences could be over the long term. I fear a Phillp K Dick version of the future.
Haha. Thanks. You are right of course. Agree with all of this, a nice balance of passion and reason. The way teachers have been and are treated is a tragedy, and it really riles me. What kind of society allows educators to be so devalued? If it would make the complacent public, and the duplicitous politician listen then strike. Negotiating has got them nowhere.
