The Malta Union of Teachers organised a conference for teachers last week to address the problem of unacceptable student behaviour, an issue the union believes is growing and about which it feels that little is being done.
As if to strengthen the union’s claims, the following day the head of a boys’ secondary school was attacked by a student simply because the head teacher told him not to wear a cap since it did not form part of the school uniform. The student was
suspended.
MUT president John Bencini claimed that teachers were suffering the consequences of student bad behaviour, adding that “abuse, threats and even cases of physical violence (are occurring) on a daily basis.” The problem is getting out of hand, he remarked.
He implied that whereas the government had a zero tolerance when it came to physical abuse, the same could not be said in respect of verbal abuse, absenteeism and general misbehaviour on school premises. The use of bad language is growing and even arriving late for school is a sign of disrespect.
In his address, Education Minister Louis Galea said discipline and good behaviour had always been on the government’s agenda. He said the few incidents that took place unfortunately overshadowed the overwhelming number of students whose behaviour was exemplary.
Yet it must be said that it is these “few incidents” that must be tackled, and tackled properly.
One important comment made by the minister was that parents must be involved when such problems are addressed. Parents have an important role to play in this regard and must work hand in hand with the school authorities.
The problem is that very often, parents are partly to blame in such situations. Not so long ago, generally speaking, parents used to take the teacher’s side each time a student was admonished or given a punishment for misbehaviour. Today, on most occasions, parents tend to back their child and take a stand against the teacher, giving the student the kind of support that encourages him or her to misbehave even more.
In this regard, parents and teachers must collaborate more with each other. Rather than take a head-on approach against the teacher and defend one’s child every time he or she is disciplined for misbehaviour, parents should try to understand that, on most occasions, the teacher’s actions are for their children’s own good.
Schools are, after all, an extension of the upbringing part of a child’s life at home. In schools, teachers take over the role of educators that is practised by the parents at home, and therefore are themselves responsible and duty-bound to praise and correct students, depending on the situation.
Parents should learn to trust their children’s teachers more. Very often, the teachers will have been right to discipline children who misbehave. But if parents then defend their children’s misbehaviour, it is possible that they will be sending the wrong message and, even worse, encouraging their children to misbehave repeatedly.
For their part, teachers must also realise that they should not abuse their authority.
They must weigh their decision well before taking disciplinary action and, in doing so, must make it clear that they are doing so in the best interests of the student. They should be objective in their decisions and not allow emotions to take over. Most of all, they must also understand that external circumstances could be pushing the student to misbehave.
It is a delicate issue that must be tackled in a comprehensive manner. Teachers should not feel that they are fighting a battle against students and parents, and vice versa. Parents must understand that school is not there only for Mathematics and English, but it is an important element in a child’s upbringing.