by Jay Snyder

Created on: June 15, 2007

As a high school teacher I can attest to how rudeness has undermined public education in America. There is not a day that goes by where I must stop class and correct the behavior of a student. It is not for lack of classroom management skills that the problems occur, but lack of parental and sometimes administrative support for teachers. One more than one occasion I have had a student who has broken a school or classroom rule that has warranted at least a detention only to have that student's parents call the administration and have it forgiven. I am not an overly strict person and usually give students a chance to defend their actions before meting out a punishment that fits the crime.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg that shows how rude students have become. I have to remind students that they need to call teachers by Mr./Ms./or Miss followed by that teacher's last name. It is not because I want to feel more important than my students, but a title of respect. If they wish for me to call them Mr./Ms. and their last name, I am happy to oblige. However, there is not excuse for a student to call their teacher by their first name. I have heard students state that they do not like the teacher and question why they should respect them. I tell them they must respect their teachers due in part to age and in part to education. I had teachers that I disliked immensely when I was in school, but I never called them by their first name. (At least until after I graduated).

Another rude behavior that I notice often is how students will talk over one another or not listen to an answer that a peer gives in class. Given they cannot respect their teachers, I should not be surprised that they cannot respect one another. Yet, this behavior is rude and commonplace. Along these same lines are when students gather at a teacher's desk or in front of a teacher and ask questions over one another. I correct this behavior through many different means, but find that the correction lasts for a short time at best.

This essay could continue ad nauseum about how rudeness has undermined American schools. Yet, just gripping about the problems will not solve them. Educators can do what they can about the rude behavior of their students, but nothing will ever work without parents/guardians backing them up. Many students are simply reflections of their parents. If the students are rude, chances are that their parent(s)/guardian(s) are either rude or completely submissive to their childrens

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>