Classrooms of today no match to ‘60s and ‘70s
Published:Monday | November 25, 2019 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I note with disgust Karl Samuda’s response to the incident at Pembroke Hall High School. When were teachers held in high regard in Jamaica?
While I don’t condone the teacher’s handling of the incident, we must be cognizant that the classrooms of today are nothing compared to the classrooms of the ‘60s or the ‘70s.
These students are disrespectful and provocative, knowing teachers can’t hit them. Yes, she allowed herself to be annoyed to the point of being unprofessional, but we must agree that this unacceptable behaviour is tantamount to what we see in our Parliament at times.
If politicians can brawl at hospital or Gordon House, and still keep their jobs, this teacher should be reprimanded and allowed to keep her job. If politicians can be arrested and charged, and be allowed to keep their jobs, this teacher should be extended the same courtesy.
The focus ought not to be on a frustrated teacher, but on a society gone irreparably wrong.
We must fix the home from which we all come before we start highlighting sporadic incidents like these.
The students are maladapted, and only a teacher in the 21st-century classroom knows the battlefield of gross insubordination and disrespect classroom teachers face daily.
Support and offer conflict-resolution strategies to this lady. It serves no good to ostracise her.
My humble opinion.
C. Marshall