America's Teachers are More Underappreciated than Ever

Remember when teachers were actually held in high regard? It used to be that students actually respected their so-called second parents , and parents actually made sure that their kids treated teachers with respect. Now, teachers are getting cursed out by students in elementary school, and parents aren’t doing much to curb their children’s behavior. With all the educational issues going on today, the last thing a teacher wants is a classroom full of out of control youth. Not only does it upset them, but it can also make them lose their passion. How can you help a child who is being directly, or indirectly, taught that mediocre is just fine? How can you teach the kids who want to learn, when 85% of the class is being disruptive?

Teachers today deal with more than teachers of the past have had to; yet simultaneously they are becoming less and less appreciated. True, there are teachers that would rather slack than teach, but I believe that the average teacher truly does care and is doing the best that they can with what they’re given. 

Students spend, or should I say, are supposed to spend, as much time at school as adults do at work. With school being their second home, it’s only right that students should treat their teachers right. Many teachers not only teach what's in the book, they also change lives. Sometimes, students don’t have parents who care, and their teachers fill the void for the positive role model they're lacking. As a teacher, I believe you’re supposed to do more than quote facts. You’re supposed to attempt to leave some type of mark on your students that they will carry with them throughout life. 

Particularly in high school, many of my teachers were my refuge. One teacher in particular was more like a mother to me. To this day, I can call her and talk to her; and I graduated in 2004. She shared my triumphs, and my pains and it wasn’t because she had to, it was because she chose to.

For thirty years, my grandmother was a teacher for the Caddo Parish School System here in Shreveport, Louisiana. All my life, I’ve watched her teach and help mold lives. You see, my Nana was, and still is, one of those rare teachers, active or retired, that actually cares about the kids. She even cared about the kids that weren’t hers. To this day, she still has former students who call her and tell her how she impacted them. 

Who knows, maybe those people wouldn’t be who they are today had they not come into contact with a teacher who actually cared about them. There are so many good teachers still out there and many more potentially good teachers on their way into the field. If we don’t start trying to truly save our education system, which most definitely includes the teachers, then our kids may unfortunately have a grim future ahead of them.