Teachers are increasingly coming across embarrassing situations that could also potentially throw their careers in jeopardy, with some educators reporting teenage girls removing their underwear in class and spreading their legs, to young boys discussing whether blow-jobs are better than hand-jobs.

In one case, a male teacher said he’s faced a situation where secondary school girls slid down their chair facing him and spread their legs apart to reveal no underwear. Then, one of them shamelessly accused the male teacher of looking where it’s not appropriate, with the rest of the class sniggering, apparently finding the episode funny.

The problem, the teacher said, is that such provoking situations are hard to decipher for people who are not present. “It’s one word against the other,” he said, as outsiders might interpret the situation as having been started by the teacher, and not the pupil. This, of course, could potentially tarnish the educator’s reputation.

Another teacher disclosed that she was shocked to hear a particular conversation between 10-year-old students. “I overheard a boy asking his class mate, while on the school bus, whether he prefers a blow job to a hand job. I’ve heard primary school children discuss sexual acts too often. One student claimed he’s seen it all online, proceeding to tell his classmates he could explain all there is to know to them.”

Young boys are passing remarks at female teachers, while young girls are teasing their male teachers with their unscrupulous behaviour.

 

Some teachers forced to switch schools – MUT

The situation is become so exasperating for some teachers that they are requesting transfers to other schools to stop what they describe as abuse.

Contacted by The Malta Independent, Kevin Bonello, President for the Malta Union of Teachers confirmed that such abuse is not uncommon, confirming that teachers have had to move away from students who have led them into trouble.

He said that over the past years, the union has received a substantial number of reports of students harassing teachers. “When the situation is sensitive, such as harassment, a number of teachers are afraid of speaking up, and with due reason. For one thing, they worry about what the rest of the academic staff might think. Furthermore, such a situation does not only place their career in jeopardy, but also their personal life.”

This is because any kind of accusation that is levelled at a teacher is bound to create suspicions and this could have its own negative effects on both career and family matters.

This scenario follows up the story that was revealed by The Malta Independent in May. This newspaper reported that a number of secondary school girls were betting on who amongst them will get pregnant first.  One of the 14-year-olds had in fact got pregnant.

 

Students questioning teachers using arrogant tone

A number of teachers speaking to this newspaper pointed out that dealing with behavioural problems has become the utmost challenge in the classroom. Teachers with more years experience note that students today are questioning their superiors more readily and, worse, more arrogantly.  “Students are questioning teachers, demanding to know why they are being corrected. They use a conceited tone with teachers, even at a young age.”

Teachers also agree that children have become more aware of their rights, but may have perhaps forgotten about their duties. “We’ve gone from one extreme to another. Years ago, we needed to make children’s rights clear, but now, this talk of rights is being abused,” one teacher argues.

It looks as if the traditional approach based on rewards and punishment is not as effective as it used to be.  Some students act resilient to punishment threats, and decide it’s still more worth it to act inappropriately. Teachers state that often they’ve had students saying “so what? I’ll go down to the headmaster’s office/ stay after school, it’s not like I particularly care...”

 

Parents threaten to speak to minister

Students’ behaviour is, in more than one ways, a reflection of what their parents do. Increasingly, more teachers are being confronted by aggressive parents demanding to know why students have been punished or why the results of their exams were not good enough.

“I’ve had parents threatening to speak to the minister, simply because their children have been corrected. Years ago, a student used to receive two punishments if they misbehaved, one from the teacher, one from their parents.  Today that has completely changed,” an older teacher remarked.

Mr Bonello emphasises that parents need to be on board with the teachers. “It is useless having a teacher trying his or her best to discipline the student, when parents are doing the opposite, and are being quick in defending inappropriate behaviour. As a result, these children are spoilt, and have no sense of discipline. They might feel as if they’ve won a battle with their superior if their parents defend them, but later on in life, it will completely backfire at the place of work.”

The change in family structure has also posed new challenges to academic staff. Teachers face disputes on who was supposed to pick up students from school. “I’ve had parents arguing in front of me during parents’ day, blaming each other for their son’s worsening grades. Witnessing arguments between parents is reflected in school, in the manner in which children talk back to their teachers, or respond to their peers.”