“Why are my teachers so mean?”

That’s one of the questions I received when we put a call out for ‘confessions’ ideas. 

Firstly, to the person who asked the question. I’m sorry that you feel as though your teachers aren’t nice to you. Going to school is hard enough for some of you, never mind feeling as though the people teaching you aren’t nurturing and kind. 

Nurturing and kind- the ‘Miss Honeys’ of the world (Matilda ref of course). I know teachers who are little clones of ‘Miss Honeys’. They teach their classes in a calm,  caring way, they don’t believe in harsh discipline and they put in hours of extra work to support their students. 

Now, there’s also ‘Miss Trunchbulls’. The one to fear. Thankfully, Ireland is now in a position where a teacher behaving like Miss Trunchbull would be dismissed immediately and never set foot in the classroom again! But we all know there are teachers out there who are super duper strict. They give out poor behaviour points/ marks for the tiniest things, they come into the room on a mission to check homework and ensure all uniforms are up to scratch. If it’s not there are repercussions. 

Yet, teachers are human beings. They aren’t fully ‘Miss Honey’ or ‘Miss Trunchbull. I’ve seen the teachers who are typically ‘Miss Honeys’, lose their tempers and I’ve seen the ‘Miss Trunchbulls’ run to the shop to buy a student some lunch if they have forgotten it, 

You have good and bad traits and so do your teachers. You have good and bad days and so do your teachers. Life is challenging but your teachers truly don’t hate you. If they are being ‘mean’ it’s maybe because their personality type is one that means they like order and everything to be in it’s right place. They want your homework done because they know that if you’re doing homework, you’re committed to study,  yourself and your future. 

 I want to challenge you to do something. Think of your scariest, meanest teacher. Now go up to them at the end of class and have a conversation with them. It can be about something you’re struggling with in class, about an idea you have to make the school a better place or simply to tell your teacher you enjoyed class today. When you do that, you will see the real them. The person behind the rules. I know they will soften and your fear of them will disappear. Go on, do it for your teacher, do it for you and do it for all the others who are overthinking their teacher’s ‘meanness’.