The Teachers Dream
I want to say something harsh! I want to scream and shout and box his ears till they hurt! But I can't do that, they won't let me, the system and the crazy culture that we have erected around us, won't let me!
If I scream at him he will spit in my face, deride me till it hurts! Or he will run home and tell daddy, and then daddy will come to school with a red face and a dumpling-shaped wife with a harsh voice to egg him on! And daddy will threaten me and make me tremble and he will be in the right because the law says so!
I could maybe ignore the boy, make him look foolish in front of his peers or box him off with a piece of cardboard around his desk but I would still get into trouble. I will probably be suspended and eventually lose my job if I did anything like that! I want to scream and shout but I can't, but he screams and shouts all day and so nobody gets taught anything. I'm not a teacher, I'm an object that stands awkwardly at the front of the classroom looking foolish, whilst the kids do whatever they want.
I want to slap him so hard, to make him shut up and to sit down, I want to teach the other children, the ones who want to learn but are caught up in the boys "fun" and I want to do what teachers used to do, to control and shape and to use the authority that society once gave them. Now that has all been ripped away and I am not even allowed to raise my voice!
I want to isolate him, lecture him, punish him and maybe even to take out a leather belt. Never did me any harm! Might even do it as there is not much point my being here anyway!
Job satisfaction my ......I should have joined the navy!
Ieuan Dolby
Author and Webmaster at Seadolby.Com
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