NO! Bad Teacher!

Most teachers show the same respect towards their students as they would like shown to them. I have tremendous respect for these teachers. But…There are some teachers out there who would chastise you for coming to class late. Or they would not excuse your absence even if you had been hit by a truck on the way to class. They have a inflated sense of their own importance and believe that you owe it to them to be there for every moment of their brilliant lecture.

I see things differently. A teacher is essentially you’re employee. You are paying them for a service. If you are not there for every moment of their class then you simply aren’t getting the most bang for you’re buck. This is your own loss and the teacher should not feel the need to scold you. Does your boss pay you to scold him/her? I believe that would likely get you fired.

Some would say that the teacher has a responsibility to the rest of the class. This is true. When you come in late you may distract a few people for a moment. But it is much more distracting when the teacher pauses the lecture to harass a student for truancy in front of the entire class. The student may have a very good excuse, but the teacher does not wait to hear it before they publicly humiliate the student. It is nothing more than a power trip for the teacher. But this position of power is false. It is really insubordination.

Now, I am not saying that teachers are undeserving of our respect. On the contrary, they are usually very intelligent people and deserve a great deal of respect. However, the student deserves respect in return. If they skip class too much then their grades will reflect their poor judgment. There is no need for the teacher to further punish their boss.

All I’m really saying is that Respect is a two way street. And students deserve the same respect as the teacher.