It’s just after midnight when my phone vibrates. A message via Messenger. A father has found hurtful chat messages on his son’s phone and is beyond his senses. He directs his frustration at me. In a tirade he writes that he will “grab my throat” if this doesn’t stop soon. You might be thinking, “These are the exceptions, right?” But unfortunately, that same morning I had a conversation with a mother. Her daughter received negative feedback from the mentor and internship supervisor. Unacceptable, she thinks. What follows next is a barrage of accusations, raw and without filter. The teacher in question, who wants the best for her daughter, is cut off with words that hurt.
As a director, I stand by my teachers. I have to. I see how they cringe with every hard note, with every vicious word. Because no matter how resilient you are, as a professional and as a person: it affects you. Every day, these teachers give everything they have. Of course, not everything goes perfectly. But no shortcoming justifies the brazen way parents today take out their frustrations.
And as if that weren’t enough, these teachers wake up in the morning to read in the newspaper that education is failing. That the bar must be raised, that the level is not sufficient. It is the conversations in the media and on social media that repeatedly give the impression that everything that goes wrong in society is due to education. But who looks at the people who deliver this education every day?
I see them. I see how they put their heart and soul into helping students progress. I see how they keep trying, even when the resources are lacking, even when the support elsewhere is lacking. But I also see how they slowly lose courage. How every reproach, every lack of respect, rips through their resilience like a tear.
How did we get to the point where teachers have become the pillars of society? How have we forgotten that respect is the foundation of cooperation? It is time to give these people, who help shape our children, the respect and support they deserve. Not just in words, but in actions. Because without them there is no future.