I keep thinking about my post from January 15, 2011 entitled A Teacher Told A Student What? I keep thinking about the reason why teachers become teachers and the fact that some of them seem to lose sight of that reason. In my opinion, teachers should foster hope and find ways to help each child in their classes.
Since divorce is so common place in our lives. People who are involved with children such as teachers need to change the way they approach children involved in the divorce process.
The teacher who told a child in her class to return the school’s property because unbeknown st to the child, she would not be returning, did a lousy job.
I have come up with a few ideas that might have saved the child from worry and stress until her parents told her about the coming divorce.
Obviously, there should be no lies but there would have been other ways to save the child from more anxiety than necessary.
Why couldn’t the teacher have said to all of the students in her class something like, “Students please leave your books in your desks before you leave today because there will be no homework this weekend.”
Or “Because this is a three day weekend, please empty out your books and go home with empty knapsacks for a change!”
Or “I want to check all of your books to make sure that you have not been marking in them so please leave them here before you go home today.”
I just think that children’s feelings should be spared in any way possible. Even if the parents make mistakes in how they handle their divorce, other adults involved shouldn’t act in ways that will amplify the parents’ blunders.
Photo: US Mission Canada
