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| Yes | 73% | 355 votes | Total: 488 votes | |
| No | 27% | 133 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThere is no doubt that teaching is a high-stress profession. Anyone in this profession should be strong mentally to face the challenges that might come across during the day. Teachers deal with hundreds of people in various situations on a daily basis and must be prepared and intellectually quick to think on their feet in and out of the classroom.
In the classroom, a teacher may be in charge of conducting an advanced literature seminar to seniors. If students pose questions regarding vocabulary, the story line, character analysis, the educator must answer promptly, accurately and without personal bias. Oftentimes, people may draw from life experiences to glean from novels and is normal for any person. However, a mentally stable person will not take a story out of context and misconstrue the meaning the writer is intending to communicate through this art form.
A mentally stable person will have an easier time sticking to the task at hand and not moving on tangents. He or she will have no trouble monitoring class behavior verbally and physically and will undoubtedly win respect from students at any age level. A person who is mentally unstable will be subject to student scrutiny. Students can easily read a teacher's weakness and take advantage in tardiness, incomplete homework assignments or asking for better grades by preying on the weaknesses.
On the other hand, if the teacher's mental weakness includes a quickness to anger, the students might prey on this weakness by acting out to "get the teacher fired". A mentally unstable person would be more likely to give into this weakness and snap in front of a group of students; possibly injuring him/herself or others.
Not only must a teacher be mentally fit in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom. In the hallway, teachers are responsible to monitor hundreds of students transitioning from class to class. S/he must be alert to see that there is no bullying or other inappropriate behaviors at large. S/he must also take notice of student dress and language amongst students; also that no students are tardy to their next classes. A mentally unstable individual might be overwhelmed with multitasking in this venue as they must not only keep student behavior in check, but take attendance for their next classes and mentally prepare for the next lesson's curriculum.
Finally, a teacher must be on point when communicating with parents and administration. When parents call about problems in the classroom between teacher and student or with the curriculum method, teachers must separate his/her personal opinions and maintain professional composure at all times. When at school, learning takes precedence and all parents discipline uniquely at home. Teachers that are mentally stable have fair classroom guidelines that may be easily explained to parents and administration. They are rational in their methods and genuine in their instruction procedures.
Most importantly, as in recent events, if a tragedy were to occur at a school, no matter the instruction level, parents should be rest assured that their children's teachers are competent to endure any situation and care for their children in their absence. Teachers are responsible to care for our future generations in curriculum; intrinsically as well as extrinsically. They should be mentally fit to meet this great task.
Learn more about this author, Cadence.
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No
I disagree that all teachers should be subjected to mental stability tests. The President of the United States is not subjected to a formal mental stability test. You'd think that would be of paramount importance. People planning to have unprotected sex do not have to submit to mental stability testing and they run the risk of becoming parents. Actually, people who HAVE become parents are not subjected to mental stability testing. Parents don't have to submit to any mandatory competence screening at all. Copulating people may be putting all of society at grave risk. No one knows if they or their children are mentally fit. There should be a test. As American graduates can attest, standardized testing is reliable.
Should teachers be required to take mental stability tests? Although a vague idea, it's an absurd suggestion. Is the testing a pre-screening during the interview process, or will it be mandatory only if the teacher is suspected of "dodgy" behavior? Dodgy behavior at a state college presumably is better tolerated than in a pre-K classroom. Although dodgy teachers tend to entertain young children, and children having fun wind up learning when they're unaware. We may all define "dodgy" a bit differently. That would of course have to be addressed in dense legalese so an eccentric teacher isn't mistaken for one with a biting sense of humor. What's the recourse if the teacher refuses to be tested? Would legal counsel be necessary or could s/he simply come in to work as usual while a box is checked on in the personnel file? Does the testing extend to teaching assistants? Should all school faculty who can reasonably be expected to encounter the student body daily be subjected to the testing? Since public schools receive federal funding, should all civil servants be required to pass a mental stability test? How is this test administered, on a standardized government form like the 1040-EZ or by a government sub-contractor?
It's not only absurd, but demeaning. The posting on the "YES" side mentioning teachers involved in mass killings and suicides is reckless fear-mongering. Such events, if they've even ever occurred, would be extraordinarily rare outliers. Society cannot screen against every possible extreme and expect to progress. Societies that attempt such preemptive screening stultify and revert into a dark age.
Let's face it. People who leave their homes are running the risk of interacting with other people in public, the stressed and carefree, young and old, impressionable and stoic, responsible and reckless. Everyone may be mentally unstable. And yet we, who venture outdoors, know from experience that that isn't true.
Learn more about this author, American Citizen.
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