Teachers deserve to be respected for their hard work
Teachers are here to help our education, not to make us miserable
March 8, 2017
Earlier this semester, I heard two classmates talking about their math teachers to one another, one of the students asked the other who their math teacher was, and upon their response the student said something to the effect of, “Oh, the bad teacher.” Over the past 12 years that I’ve spent in the Kansas education system, I have caught myself speaking poorly about my coaches and teachers at school. These are the people who studied education and wake up early every morning to come to a place that they spent a majority of their life, only to better us as students, and as individuals. But somehow we are OK with calling these individuals “bad” or saying that they are “incapable of teaching” purely because they make one small mistake.
Arguably, your number one fan in school sports will be your coach, not just because they spend the most time with you, but because they really care. These individuals take time out of their day to teach you how to be a better athlete on and off the field. They are constantly encouraging physical strength when you have two minutes left in the game and emotional strength when you can’t keep it together after a rough day of school. For you to leave with an attitude any less than grateful seems ridiculous because they are making an effort to help you improve your skills. In turn, they should be treated with respect, and should expect that from their players.
Similarly, our teachers play such an important role in our growth as individuals and in our education. They work long hours in and out of school and on the weekends to assure that their students are gaining the knowledge that they need. I have seen many teachers come into school looking flustered, and then by the time first block begins they seem to smile brightly and encourage us to do our best. Yet we still seem to exit the classrooms and murmur words of discouragement about them to our peers just because they didn’t get to grade all the essays or all the tests. These people advocate for us and we are tearing them down simply for making little errors. We are all fully aware that nobody is perfect, so we need to start acting like it.
Please don’t forget the great lengths that our teachers and coaches go to in order for us to be successful in life. These people are a part of our lives for nearly 13 years and we need to start acting like we appreciate them. Give them a little bit more love by saying, “thank you,” after class or by simply not gossipping about how “awful” they are. Our coaches and teachers work hard for hardly anything in return, so the least we can do is to show our gratitude.
