school

"The day you abused your position in the worst possible way."

I was there at the sports carnival when you yelled at that boy.

I was looking for my son and heard yelling from behind me. I saw you, red in the face, bending menacingly over the child who was sitting on the ground and you were yelling at him like a deranged lunatic.

You had obviously lost control of yourself. You had completely lost your temper.

Just who the hell do you think you are? You can’t treat kids like that!

You are a grown up and that is a child. You are in a postion of responsibility. You have power over those kids.

That day you abused your position in the worst way.

I love my children’s teachers. I can’t believe how many amazing teachers there are at that school. These are teachers who love their jobs, who love our kids, who respect them and teach them and calmly guide them.

You should go and work as a prison officer or somewhere that keeps you away from kids. You need a job where you can you can yell and scream and rant and rave as much as you like.

Some teachers say terrible things. Article continues after this video.

Teachers have an important job to do with our most vulnerable, and that is a position of privilige and responsiblity that demands a much higher standard of behaviour from you.

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That day you not only failed as a teacher but you failed as a human being. You failed at being a grown up.

I can’t get that poor boy’s face out of my head. He was maybe 10, or 11.

He was pale with embarrassed splotches of colour on his cheeks. He was looking straight ahead, nodding as the tirade continued. It went on and on and on and he kept nodding and nodding and nodding.

Why did you go on for so long? Why did you torture him for so long in front of his friends?

It had been such an incredible day up until then. All of our beautiful kids running and jumping and playing and laughing. You cast a shadow over all of that. You ruined it with your nastiness and your meanness and your lack of control.

I was in shock. I stood there as you screeched like a witch. I couldn’t imagine what he had done to warrant such treatment, to deserve such verbal abuse.

"Teachers have an important job to do with our most vulnerable, and that is a position of privilige and responsiblity that demands a much higher standard of behaviour from you." Image: iStock
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When you had finished, when all of the damage you could possibly inflict on him was done, you looked up at me and all I could do was stare at you in horror. The defiant look on your face made me sick.

Do you think you have a right to treat primary-aged kids this way?

You don't.

Be a firm teacher, speak loudly sometimes if you need to, but don't verbally abuse children who aren't in a position to defend themselves against unfair treatment.

You are an adult and they are a child.

You were standing over him and he was forced to sit.

You did it in front of his peers instead of doing it privately.

What you did was a complete abuse of your power, a violation of the trust parents and the school places in you as a teacher.

"It had been such an incredible day up until then. All of our beautiful kids running and jumping and playing and laughing. You cast a shadow over all of that. You ruined it with your nastiness and your meanness and your lack of control." Image: iStock
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I don't care how funny you are some days, how well you get along with your co-workers, who your family is or how long you have been working at the school.

What you did to that child that day taught them nothing about how to correct their behaviour. All you did was teach them and their friends to fear you, to know the burn of public humiliation, to feel powerless to protect and defend themselves, to feel vulnerable in a place where he should feel safe.

You even started yelling at one of his friends who tried to defend him.

"Mind your own business," you screeched at him. How dare you? That boy who tried to defend his friend was brave, much braver than I was because since that day I have wished I could turn back time and demand you stop.

I wish I had confronted you in front of those kids and explained that your behaviour was not acceptable and they deserved to be treated much better than that.

Teachers who yell at children should be fired and it is my hope that you eventually are.

You are nothing more than a bully.