April 2010
If only we lovingly were ‘in loco parentis’

Do you ever get the feeling that everyone you meet these days is an expert on all issues? It doesn't matter if it is politics or religion or education; it seems more people than ever are challenging what we do in public education.

From talking to teachers and administrators, I feel like much of the pressure is coming from parents and legal guardians who are telling the professional educators how they should teach, how they should run the schools, and how they should treat their children.

"The parents are driving me crazy," one teacher told me recently. "I get notes from some of them every single day, and they're complaining about something I said, or did or didn't do. I'm spending more time addressing the parents than I am teaching their children."

What has happened? What has caused this sudden explosion of excessive parental harassment? Well, for one thing, far too many educators have lost the respect and dignity they once had.

I know. We don't like to hear this, but it is the truth.

Most any day when we pick up the newspaper or turn on the television, we learn of another teacher or administrator involved in criminal behavior. It sends a frightening message and alerts us as parents that we need to make sure our children are safe when they're at school.

Forgive me for so many references to the way "things used to be," but teaching was at one time a most revered profession. Teachers dressed as professionals. They were exemplary role models in the community. They were truly "in loco parentis."

This remarkable and applicable Latin term means "in the place of the parent" or "instead of a parent." What a testament to the educator! We have been given, by law, the responsibility to act in the best interest of the students, just as their parents would do. Unfortunately, some people in our profession have forgotten this. Think about it: We are to serve, provide for, love and care for the students as if we were the parents!

I wrote an article years ago about how critical it is for educators to care genuinely about children. I went so far as to say that I thought it was the single-most important "ingredient" for a teacher to possess. A teacher, whose principal gave her a copy of the article, wrote a scathing letter to me about how foolish I was. She stated something to the effect that she did not love her students. That was not why she was hired. Her task was to teach her students mathematics — nothing else!

Upon reading that letter, my heart ached for both her and her students. I realized that she was not happy in her job, and I strongly suspected that the students in her classroom were just as miserable.

Today, for a moment, ponder the idea that you are the parent of a very large family. Focus on the idea that you want the best for "your children." Imagine what your school or your classroom would look like if the people in charge really did love the children enough to provide what was best for each child.

Would some of the teachers remain on your staff? Would courses be added to encourage the special gifts some children have been given? Would you really want your children in a classroom where academics were more important than acceptance? If you truly cared as much as a loving parent, would things remain the same?

I wonder. I really do wonder.

RINEY JORDAN, whose best-selling book, "All the Difference," is now in its sixth printing, is an international speaker and humorist. He can be reached at riney@htcomp.net or by visiting www.rineyjordan.com