You bloody maniacs! Be quiet and read. Yes, that’s what my teachers tell us. My English teacher, my economy teacher, my geography teacher. Is there are place in the world… where teachers show respect for their students?

Pupils will respect their teachers, it is only logical. They have knowledge, they offer to share (even though it’s only because they can’t find a better job). Yet… why don’t teachers see students are so much alike them? We offer to listen, we are willing to read…

There is no way we are allowed to yell at them. We get sent to the hallway, sent home, our parents are phoned… And still, teachers do yell at us? Not just a bit every once in a while when there’s too much noise. No, the standard greeting you get when you enter a classroom is “Be quiet, sit down.” How kind…

I will not accept this. Oh, if they dare to call me a bloody maniac one more time I will bloody well get out of the classroom. I’d rather teach myself than be taught by someone who does not respect me.

Perhaps home schooling would be much more pleasant. No grumpy teachers whining they don’t get paid enough, no childish children throwing gum in your hair. However… home schooling is impossible. It is impossible here at least. I happen to live in the Netherlands. The country of expression and drugs and freedom… but also a country that makes all students go to crappy schools to be taught what they don’t want to learn and by people they wished they had never met.

Perhaps I ought to move to the United Kingdom? Any suggestions? Where can I find respect?

~Zenobia,
zenobia@theguthan.com