by Nikki Fitz

Created on: February 14, 2008

I cannot help but argue that rudeness is the number one cause for undermining public education. I am an Educational Assistant (basically a teacher's aide) for a sixth grade in a rural community. It is a small grade; there is only one grade smaller than ours in the school, yet we have more office referrals than any other grade in the school.

The problem is behavior. We have one student who consistently steals and is not allowed in the halls by him/herself. We have many students (probably nearly half) who are consistently rude and disrespectful to both their elders and their friends.

And then we have the one student who takes up more time and energy than all the other students put together. He usually cannot stay in a class the full class period; he is being sent to the office at least once, if not twice, a day. He takes up so much time and energy that even the teachers in the grade who do not have him are complaining about how much focus we have to put towards him.

The new stance on behavior in the school is to ignore the bad behavior. We are supposed to let him sit there and call us names, stick his middle finger up at us, get up and wander around the room, and basically do whatever he wants. We cannot do anything. If he gets too bad, we send him out of the room to work one-on-one with an adult (usually me) until that class period is over, and then he heads to his next class, where the cycle starts all over again.

So while we are trying to "fix" his behavior (and since when does letting a student do whatever he wants for as long as he wants ever correct behavior?), the other students in his classes are getting the short end of the stick, so to speak. They can't learn when someone is making loud comments. They can't learn when a teacher can't answer their question because his/her attention is focused on someone who doesn't even want to be there.

And the consequences of his behavior extend out farther than just those in his class. When I am pulled to deal with him, the special education student(s) I am supposed to be working with suffers, too, because I am not there to help him/her.

This student is just one example of how rudeness undermines public education. Collectively, I deal with rudeness, disrespect, and outright breaking of school rules right in front of my face on a daily basis. I cannot do anything about it. I've written office referrals, but the vice principal never does anything about them. Most of the time, he doesn't even speak to the student; he just throws the referral away.

How can the public educators help create future upstanding citizens if there is no discipline? Discipline starts at home. But for those kids whose parents can't - or won't - teach their children manners and respect, shouldn't we? The teachers with whom I work would desperately love to help these children learn proper etiquette and behavior. Yet we aren't allowed to do so. If the parents won't, and the teachers can't, who's left?

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