All through my childhood and early teenagehood I wanted to be a teacher. Because to the influenceable little me being a teacher seemed like the greatest job ever. Teachers knew everything! They were neat and grown up. They had their powerful red pens- I was enchanted by red pens. I longed for a time when I had such an all-powerful tool- a tool that gave words and calculations worth. My sisters and I would sit around old newspapers or textbooks with a rich red pen, making nonsensical markings around random words and numbers, pretending we were marking; impressed by the color and the authority it brought with it.
Even now, that I am all "grown up", I get a rush when I'm asked to explain something. I feel slightly smug when I'm given a pen to explain a calculation, I stand a little taller when I'm speaking to crowd. Because a part of me still wants to teach. A part of me still wants to mold a generation. Perhaps I am romanticizing the notion, I do have a habit of being biased towards my role-models. But nevertheless, I admire the transfer of knowledge. I admire the imposer of knowledge.
It saddens me to now see teachers being gradually stripped of their proverbial red pen. Slowly teachers are losing their luster, so to speak. I seldom meet a child who wants to be a teacher. Even though I could swear that was the norm in my childhood. Slowly teachers are losing their authoritative position in the community. Their red pen no longer makes that much of an impact. They are depicted as the butt of jokes by the media and dismissive parents alike. And I say it is about time we give teachers their authority back. I say we don't dismiss their requests. I say that a generation that has lost respect for teachers is a dangerous generation. (Although, arguably, I can't point out why.)
Now I don't know the point in time that teachers started losing this respect, and I can't say whether or not they had a hand in it, but I do know that our community is capable of rectifying this, for our own sake. So just stop with the hate, show your children that you respect teachers as well, and give teachers their red pen back.
Even now, that I am all "grown up", I get a rush when I'm asked to explain something. I feel slightly smug when I'm given a pen to explain a calculation, I stand a little taller when I'm speaking to crowd. Because a part of me still wants to teach. A part of me still wants to mold a generation. Perhaps I am romanticizing the notion, I do have a habit of being biased towards my role-models. But nevertheless, I admire the transfer of knowledge. I admire the imposer of knowledge.
It saddens me to now see teachers being gradually stripped of their proverbial red pen. Slowly teachers are losing their luster, so to speak. I seldom meet a child who wants to be a teacher. Even though I could swear that was the norm in my childhood. Slowly teachers are losing their authoritative position in the community. Their red pen no longer makes that much of an impact. They are depicted as the butt of jokes by the media and dismissive parents alike. And I say it is about time we give teachers their authority back. I say we don't dismiss their requests. I say that a generation that has lost respect for teachers is a dangerous generation. (Although, arguably, I can't point out why.)
Now I don't know the point in time that teachers started losing this respect, and I can't say whether or not they had a hand in it, but I do know that our community is capable of rectifying this, for our own sake. So just stop with the hate, show your children that you respect teachers as well, and give teachers their red pen back.
What you wrote here is something I tried to explain a long time ago to myself and the people around me, I couldn't have explained it any better than you did. I've also had this passion of teaching since childhood until the current day, but nowadays teachers aren't given the same rights they had before. Anyways love what you wrote <3
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