SEPTEMBER 13 ― Mass protests continue in South Korea, where teachers are publicly expressing their outrage at the recent suicide of a 23-year-old elementary school teacher. They claim the pressures of their profession have become unbearable, contributing to the alarming rise of suicides among teachers.
In their hypercompetitive society, the emotional toll of placating parents who insist on belittling them at every turn, combined with the step-motherly attitude of employers, is compelling many South Korean teachers to reassess their lives and quit their careers entirely.
We Malaysians may not express such a fanatical obsession with academic excellence as the surefire recipe for success, but there are parallels we can draw from this story concerning the treatment of teachers.
As an experienced early childhood educator, I can say without reservation that many preschool teachers are routinely treated as second-class by both parents and management. Put another way, they are treated as disposable props in the larger childhood experience and not its vital scaffolding.
It is most unfortunate that the incident in Sabah a few weeks ago, where a preschool teacher physically assaulted a child, has pushed early childhood education and its practitioners into the spotlight for the worst possible reason: child abuse.
No one can justify child abuse, whether emotional or physical, least of all teachers who have been entrusted with the noble task of co-raising the next generation together with parents.
Nevertheless, given the speed with which this story has gripped the public imagination, treating preschool teachers as criminals-in-waiting does not contribute to a safer learning environment for children.
How can we accept that emotional abuse scars children for life and then turn around and heap it on teachers? Are they not human? Do they not feel?
How can we expect them to do their jobs better when they are reprimanded for the slightest mistakes, but rarely rewarded for putting in the extra effort? Accepting one reality and ignoring another at our convenience is guaranteed to backfire.
In my opinion, when it comes to early childhood education, parents must re-learn its purpose and reset their expectations. Why do they send their kids to preschool? Are they paying for a nanny, someone to mind their kids while they work nine-to-five jobs? Or do they want their children to prepare for the rigors of primary school and beyond? To grow into well-adjusted, productive members of society?
Let’s remember that preschool-aged kids are bursting with energy and easily bored with textbooks. They will create a ruckus, fight with friends, and occasionally hurt themselves lightly. Remember also that teachers are not psychics equipped with superhuman reflexes. Sometimes, the best they can do is administer first-aid swiftly and inform the parents.
Parental attitudes on such occasions range from unreasonable to outright abusive. Let me illustrate this point via a story, one of many. A teacher at my school, let’s call her Ms. Z, recently landed in trouble when a child in her class was bitten on the arm by another while playing and it left a bruise.
As soon as Ms. Z found out, she immediately did her due diligence and informed the injured child’s mother. Despite her following the school SOP to a tee, the very next day that mother stormed into the school and proceeded to lecture Ms. Z at length about her failings as a teacher.
She never paused to consider that small accidents are inevitable when you put a group of active children together in a classroom. The law of averages says so.
By her logic, if the child gets hurt at home, does this make her a poor parent? Oh, no, those are unfortunate accidents, the normal bumps and scrapes of childhood. Only Ms. Z is guilty of gross negligence. She is an easy target.
What does school management do at such times, you wonder? Little to nothing. They quietly step back and let teachers take the punches. Later, they expect the traumatised teacher to apologise meekly and carry on as usual. All that concerns them is that the child in question stays in their school.
Parents, remember when I said believing one reality and ignoring another at our convenience is certain to backfire? Reflect on the following: when the best and brightest in our profession leave to either teach higher grades so they won’t have to deal with your tantrums and for better pay, or otherwise stop teaching, who are you entrusting your kids to at school?
Are you really enabling your children’s learning experience by insulting the people who genuinely care about their work?
Circling back to the hot-button issue of child abuse, it is highly regrettable that this term has intruded on the terrain of legitimate disciplining and discouraging undesirable behaviour in children.
It boggles my mind when management insists that repeated scoldings are a form of emotional abuse. They claim teachers should “sayang” unruly kids to turn their mischief into obedience. On what planet?
A parent’s love for their child is natural and universal. It is a beautiful thing, and children who receive it unconditionally are truly blessed. However, indulging them to the point where they develop a self-entitled attitude does more harm than good. Life will neither put a “handle with care” sticker on their foreheads, nor carry them wearing kid gloves.
They will certainly struggle when they’re older if they do not display the common courtesies and conduct that society considers appropriate. No one will pamper them, and their lack of manners will reflect poorly on their parents.
So, let teachers do their jobs. Let them help children acquire the intellectual and emotional strength to achieve their potential.
* If you are lonely, distressed, or having negative thoughts, Befrienders offers free and confidential support 24 hours a day. A full list of Befrienders contact numbers and state operating hours is available here: www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia. There are also free hotlines for young people. Talian Kasih at 15999 (24/7); and Talian BuddyBear at 1800-18-2327(BEAR)(daily 12pm-12am).
** Jerrica Fatima Ann is an early childhood educator based in Ipoh.
*** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
