Time to Introduce Compulsory Military Service

[dotinthesky]

I could never be a teacher in England. Either I would kill one of the students, get killed by one of them, or kill myself.

Just now, walking down the South Bank, I witnessed a group of teenage boys in green uniform bully their teacher. One of them threw water over the man and ran away, to the cheers and laughter of the other kids. The teacher tried to chase him then gave up. Eventually, when he caught up with the kid, what could he do? Nothing. He didn't even manage to wrestle the bottle of water from his hands. While he stood in the middle of the boys, befuddled and smiling awkwardly (to hide his shame) another boy came up from behind and pulled his coat's hood over his head.

If that wasn't enough, I spotted three other teenagers squatting by the London Tram displayed outside the National Theatre (the Mayor of London wants to re-create a tram line from Euston to Waterloo). The teenagers were graffiting the tram while on the other side a television crew filmed an interview. I wanted to give those kids a swift kick up the arse, but you can guess what I did instead.

I'm turning into a grumpy old man.

Comments

[thirstypixel.livejournal.com]

Put the lot of them up against the wall.

[sparklielizard.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to decide if things really are worse than they were "in my day", or if it's just the Daily Mail/Grumpy old woman in me coming out ;-)

I think things are getting worse though. I *think*. I mean, we weren't around in the 20s or whatever, and chances are we were generally good as teenagers and didn't mix with the tossers who do such stuff.

[stevek.livejournal.com]

I have to say I agree things do seem to be getting worse, it appears punishments or deterrents no longer work. :-(

I'm thinking that military service might not be the answer, but compulsory community service might be more appropriate. It'll never happen though.

[greenteablack.livejournal.com]

That's nuts. I don't understand the rude behavior towards teachers. Aren't kids taught to respect teachers anymore?

[(Anonymous)]

Since I began subbing in city schools here in San Diego, I've been astonished at the students' behavior. The only time I didn't have problems was when I was teaching Advanced Placement classes. I have spoken to office personnel and administrators and we agree, if our children ever behaved the way some of these kids do, we'd beat them! Collectively, that's the problem these days: children are not being parented as they once were. Both parents are either struggling to support the family, or the children come from single parent households where again, the parent is at work and exhausted at the end of the day. It's also a cultural problem and the desire to fit in and look cool before your friends temporarily takes precedence over academic achievement or the outgrown eagerness to please adults. Also, brain development - in that impulse control is not in place while the strong urge for thrill-seeking is predominant, make adolescence a very precarious age for humans...that is why in America at least, half of all new teachers quit within their first five years of teaching.

[knacker-prince.livejournal.com]

Pipes and slippers for the lot of you!

Only rubbish teachers allow themselves to be bullied, and graffiti is cool.

[live-life-like.livejournal.com]

nah..some people are just plain stupid and ignorant!!

[live-life-like.livejournal.com]

like...i doubt they would bully the teacher if they were alone.....they are only "strong" when they are together.....a bunch of assholes!

[deathrockboy.livejournal.com]

see, in america, the youth are so terrified of the teachers that they bring guns to school and shoot everyone. as ridiculous as it may sound, there is actually talk of allowing (or requiring) teachers to be armed.

i think i'd be able to handle some kids being hooligans.

[tonight-we-fly.livejournal.com]

Ken Livingstone has some kind of a personal fetish with trams. He also wants to run them down Uxbridge Road; even though they won't fit, and the arguements for keeping the 207/607 bus routes as a preference in this environment are so overwhelming that they knock his ridiculous scheme into orbit. Even our local Labour MP is running a campaign against him.

But he's obsessed. If left unchecked, trams will be the new bendy-buses...

[dawnkitten.livejournal.com]

Now you know why I gave up my plan of being a teacher - a typical day would be 10% teaching, 20% abuse(verbal not physical, thank god), 70% general riot control- and there's absolutely nothing teachers can threaten kids with these days- and their parents often don't care either.

[hunterjr.livejournal.com]

In that case you have to wait untill they're old enough to torture them on bed :D

[kevyn-kronycles.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, hazing the teacher...sigh...no respect for us folk nowadays

teenagers

[mirple.livejournal.com]

your post distressed me a bit. i've never come across a teacher actually being bullied like that. he must loathe his job. are things getting worse? it's hard to tell...

[vilia64.livejournal.com]

You could always just shake your fist and yell, "Ya bunch of ill-begotten whipper-snappers!" But you'd have to do it in your best "old man" voice, otherwise it just wouldn't work.

But what a bunch of punks- not like he can report them to the principle (or head master, or whoever) or call their parents. Most parents just take it in stride and do nothing.