If you look at the newspaper articles about the teacher you will find a
number of people who agree that her comments are true. It is just that she
acted as the prophet. There is a great tradition of teachers claiming that
the current generation is going to hell in a handbasket. Just think
Socrates.
She actually never identified herself by name, or her school, or any of the
students. Apparently students recognized the behaviors she was talking
about such as:
"After lunch, the jerky kids always lollygag in the hall, assembling outside
my room and not coming in. I yell at them every day and they say, "What? The
bell didn't ring yet!" There is no bell after lunch, which they know. This
is just how annoying they are. This post-lunch divide of good kids vs
annoying kids was never so clear to me as it was today. One by one the
goodies came through the door. I decided that now was my chance. I started
giving out the candy as they entered. After the good 10 walked in-- and NONE
of the annoying ones had yet even to arrive in the hallway!!-- I proclaimed,
"Well, nobody who isn't here on time is getting candy. That's it!" Then I
put out the quizzes and the other jerks filtered in and didn't even realize
they'd been excluded from the treat. (One kid, after finishing his quiz
asked if he could have a necklace but I told him no since he'd been late,
and that was the end of that.)"
Actually this is an institutional problem with the school that she is
describing.
She also complains about theft when she is at a funeral, and about students
defacing property with a bit of obscenity which every student has heard or
used. Student theft is a problem even at a private school. I had to lock
up everything when I had a substitute. When I went to school nothing was
stolen, and nobody defaced things, but I went to tiny country school where
everyone knew everyone, and the bored students dropped out at 16 in the 8th
grade.
One student commented "As far as motivated high school students, she's
completely correct. High school kids don't want to do anything. ... It's a
teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn."
How do you motivate people who have no interest in learning? The
unmotivated ones might be better off going to work for a while. I have
always suggested that shoveling manure in a barn for a month is a great
motivator. The attitude betrayed here is that the teacher has to hand
everything to the students. This attitude needs to be broken.
Her attorney said "She did it as carefully as she could," he said about
her blog. "It's so general that it applies to the problems in school
districts and schools across the country."
The opinions are split, but many articles support her and say she is
correct. They say that the school should look at its policies first. She
was unwise, but was she wrong. This might actually spark a realization of
some parents about things that are going on in schools.