A father makes an appointment with his child’s teacher to discuss what he considers an unfair grade. The meeting is scheduled for 4 o’clock.
But before the bell rings at the end of the day, the angry father appears at the classroom door — with a shotgun.
It sounds like a scene from a made-for-TV movie, but according to Ontario teachers, the past five years have seen a rise in incidents of “parent rage.”
We’d like to think it only happens in the States. When we read stories about school shootings, like the most recent one in a San Diego suburb, our reaction is often smug.
“Not in my backyard,” we say. No, it won’t be in our backyards. It might be in our schoolyards or classrooms, instead. And it won’t be the pimply, depressed, chronically bullied teen we often expect. It might be his mother or father.
Although acts of violence have been reported, more often parents vent their frustrations by screaming and yelling. So what? I can remember my own parents — generally civilized people — putting a teacher or two in his place at the dreaded parent-teacher interview. The difference is that parents these days are doing it in front of their kids. And in front of their classmates.
We’ve heard all the excuses. Parents are frustrated with bureaucratic red tape. They think schools are biased towards teachers and don’t take complaints seriously. They worry teachers aren’t giving their child enough one-on-one attention.
But when it comes to harassing teachers, these excuses hold little more weight than “my dog ate my homework.” What it boils down to is that teachers have morphed into life-size punching bags, blamed for everything from large classrooms to curriculum content to . . . global warming.
We used to be a society that respected teachers. We even gave them an apple or two every once in a while. Now, under the Harris government, teachers have been made out to be the bad guys.
And it’s starting to show.
It’s little wonder students are bullying their classmates and shooting at their teachers. In fact, they’re simply doing what we always told them to – following by example.
In one breath, we ask our children to be tolerant, respectful and kind, especially at school.
In the next breath, adults show little restraint when placed in the same setting.
The idea that a 40-something father of two can’t voice a complaint or ask a question without losing his cool is unforgivable.
The idea that he would enter a classroom with a shotgun is incomprehensible.
We’d expect better from our kids.
— Stephanie Hayne