Student Vs Teacher

Let us start our entry with few jokes that I’ve found in the website. They are so funny and cute. And from that, whether they really happened or not, we have a picture in our mind of how clever are these kids and they are full of enthusiasm and idea that we might never think of.

TEACHER: John, how do you spell "crocodile"?

JOHN : "K-R-O-K-O-D-A-I-L"

TEACHER: No, that's wrong

JOHN : Maybe it's wrong, but you asked me how I spell it!

See..how creative these kids are? To think that we as an adult know better and think better? Let’s try some ;

TEACHER: Why are you late?

WEBSTER: Because of the sign.

TEACHER: What sign?

WEBSTER: The one that says, "School Ahead, Go Slow."

TEACHER: In this box, I have a 10-foot snake.

SAMMY : You can't fool me, Teacher... snakes don't have feet.

My own children, all the times they never fail to amaze me. By their new vocabulary or act..they are just fantastic in their own way.

SILVIA: Dad, can you write in the dark?

FATHER: I think so. What do you want me to write?

SYLVIA: Your name on this report card.

Most of the times, we always assuming as an adult, we say all the correct thing, act all the correct way and we tend to ignoring their way of expressing themselves because in our head we thought, they are just kids, they should not be treated like an adult because they are not thinking like one.

Okay..actually I want to talk about the ‘hot’ video that was share by my friends in the facebook and for these couple of weeks, everyone speak out their mind and opinion regarding what happened. The video was a recording of a student from in one of Sarawak school, aged 15 punched his own teacher after a quarrel.

BUT, before I go further, I would like to get things clear here that my intention is just like always, to bring us to think outside of the box and to ‘see’ at the other side of the view. No intention to judge or blame anyone. We just try to look from our children view or from teenagers @ student view. How we see think differently because we used to thought differently when we were just a teenager, right?

So, I will apologize beforehand to everyone that might not agree with me regarding this and I am always being grateful for all the teachers that has their part in shaping me as who I am today. Definitely, I will always owe it to them my knowledge and I appreciate it. Without them, how am I to write here now?

Okay, maybe many have seen the video for it was aired on the news at that time and youtube as well as others media and facebook of course.

BUT, when most of people said that what a rude that student was, he was not supposed to talk back to his teacher and most important, he was not to punched the teacher. But at that time, I still did not know what was really happen because my desktop was ‘mute’..it does not has speaker so, I can’t listen to their conversations, so I just can’t comment much on the video. This morning my best friend got me to watched it from her notebook then, I catch up on the conversation.

This is what I can shortlisted to few lines of conversation, and I translated it to English here (their conversation was in Bahasa Malaysia) but it was not in order..mind me.

The student “I tried to explained that I did not do it but you refused to listen to me.”

The teacher “now you can say it, you just say it..”

The student “what the use of explaining it now, it’s too late”

The teacher “see how is your attitude...bla bla bla..you should go to other school..”

The student “you are the one who should go..” “I’ve told you that I am innocent but you never listening and still blaming me..”

The teacher “mampus la..” meaning..go to hell..

The student “you go to hell...”

That is what few of the conversation that I managed to catch during their quarrel and for me, it is just enough. Enough to noticed that that kid was upset and crying, enough to see that that teacher, standing in front of him and keep on ‘heating up’ the ‘flame’. And just in case no one noticed, the teacher was holding a long cane and strongly thumped it on the floor or table (can’t really see that) several times.

Well, from that, there is only one thing I can say, as an adult, we know very well that we are not suppose to upset others and pushed them to their limit. The kid is just 15 years old, what the use of tongue fighting against that small kid? As a teacher that responsible to teach these kids discipline may be few things should be take into mind;

(i) Never provoke others and push them too far because everyone has their limit

(ii) As an adult, we are suppose to handle the situation, taking into matters the bottom line of the problem instead of keep on shouting back but talk everything slowly and tenderly as we could because they are just human like us

(iii) As a teacher I think they did have a psychology lesson in their training term to handle teenagers and their behaviour and one of it definitely, not to fight fire with gas (hahaha..got that phrases ka..). Or in BM “kekerasan jangan dilawan dengan kekerasan”

(iv) Listening is the best tool to cope with trouble teenager. As a teenager myself once upon a time (hahaha..) I really respected any adult regardless they were my teacher of just a relative if they willing to listen to my problem instead of being angry and scolding me

Okay, that is just few because I think many out there know very well and better than me. Of course the kid was wrong too. As a student we should have respect for our teacher. May be he was so angry and feeling upset but still, hitting others is wrong no matter who they are, and especially if they are our teacher. When I was at that age, I had my own problem to coped with during my school time with some of the subjects that I hate, living in boarding school and have to follow order all the time and plus some of the teachers really lousy in their teaching and make me slept in my seat.

But, when it comes to term and discipline matter, I had never, ever talking back to my teacher. No matter what they accused me for, I did it or not, I preferred to silent myself because I knew very well, no use to fight the ‘commando’ when you are just the small ‘prebet’. So, just accepted it whatever it was. And of course inside I burnt like hell.

Back to our issue. If you ask me, I will suggesting that both or them, the teacher and the student should undergo therapy and counselling (if we have any). Dispelling any of them will cause more damage. To correct them is better for they are both important to our future.

And, I would like to say that I respected more one of the teacher that was in white shirt, tried to calm the kid down. And I do not know who was the one, the lady that was sitting on the couch, watching them without doing nothing like she was watching a TV drama.

Besides, as an adult, whether a teacher or not, we should teach the youngster to respect by showing them the attitude too. Because when you respect others, you also gain some from them. That is 110% true.

From my experience, those teacher that showing respect and understanding towards their students tend to get more bright student from their teaching.

When I was in form 2, I despised maths subject because the teacher (but I do not felt that anymore) always being impatient and scolding us if we failed to answered her question. That really made me felt like I was useless and unmotivated. But when I was older then I try to study in accounting, all about numbers, I can felt in love with the numbers. And of course my lecturer was very good in attracting my interest. I think that is what a teacher do, attracting interest instead of giving their student a reason to hate the teaching.

Well, we are big guys, please do not have any prospect in winning a quarrel over small kids because it will not getting us any better than them. Just because they are young and small, we think that we do not have to respect them, that is totally not right.

Do the job because you really fit to be an example to our next generation and because you really care to educate them, not because the pay. And I think that is the main reason when teaching become a burden to some teacher and sometimes, they just can’t handle it because it is not in their heart. They do it because they have no choice but to work for the salary.

Nothing wrong in listening to those young hearts. Teaching them to nurture all the good attitude. Talk and discuss, changing opinion with student do not mean that the teacher is loss his respect, it will gain him more of the respect.

For student, maybe it is hard now, have to listen to the eldest all the way from when you open your eyes until you close your eyes and sleep at night but, just think of that as a love, caring way the elders to protect you from the unexpected future. Only that some adult might showing their caring attitude in different way because they themselves is not perfect but I am very sure they mean well. When all of you grow up, you will know, how worry we are as an adult for you, because you are the prospect leaders of our future. Our nation is in your hand, you will shape it. Of course we have a right to be worry.

Do not just forcing everyone to behave correctly when we ourselves fail to do so. For example, during my school time, teachers were strictly against dating. For them, that was the biggest crime in the education system. BUT then some of them, courting with their student during their last term at school and at the end, made them their housewife. But of course it was not against the law, because after SPM, all the female student can do whatever they want to do. Only that, when we try to teach moral, let us show the moral first.

Some of the teacher also, siding with the students that is dating each other because they were also dating other fellow teacher, so to justified their act, they gave the green light. But before that, this said teacher, rock solid against this dating habit.

Anyway, let us take whatever happened in the video as an example for us, so we will not underestimate each other, adult or youngster in the future. We are human, we have feeling and sometimes, if it is push to much, we break.

Until we meet again, salam and salute to all teachers that has been sacrifice and given their services for the goodness of our people and to the youngster, may God be with all of you and remember that you are the backbone of a country.

Let’s ended this with this cartoon that I found in the internet..