I read a post from a teacher who feels guilty about possibly making kids sick during the pandemic. The teacher says she is going to “need therapy for years” to deal with these feelings. Just as I was starting to feel some sympathy for her condition, she joked that she would send the therapy bill to her Governor. I presume this is because the Governor ordered schools go back to meeting in person rather than continuing online classes.
It would be a distraction to mention the psychological instability of a school teacher who feels she is harming students by doing her job. So, I won’t say a word about my suspicions that the quality of education under this teacher is likely subpar. I’ll keep it to myself that the students in this classroom are better off staying home watching cartoons. I don’t want you to lose focus!
This kind of post is popping up all over social media like zits on a teenage forehead. It is designed to accomplish three things. 1) Publicize the teacher’s compassion and thoughtfulness 2) Garner sympathy for the teacher’s struggles 3) Blame someone else for the teacher’s struggles.
A teacher who is afraid to occupy the same physical space as her students is like a doctor who can’t stand the sight of blood. She’s like a pastry chef with gluten allergies. The teacher can’t control a classroom from her sealed bunker. At the very least, the teacher will need an assistant at each student’s location to keep them from switching off the video stream and watching cartoons (which might actually be better for them but I won’t say that.) At this point, the question to be pondered is – “Who is actually doing the teaching?”
Years of experience have taught me that I must now clearly state that there are many excellent public school teachers. There are public school teachers who sincerely care about the welfare and education of their students. There are many public school teachers who understand that not ALL public school teachers are excellent. The best school teachers don’t require me to write this disclaimer.
The teacher’s post is acutely treacherous. The first line appears to be a confession. It’s almost apologetic. The teacher is bearing a heavy burden of responsibility. She is afraid her students are getting sick because she is doing her job during a pandemic. What a tragic character! The noble school teacher persists in her duties, despite the unbearable guilt. She needs therapy to deal with the remorse and anxiety that comes from knowing she has harmed children.
Except…she didn’t harm the children. It’s the Governor’s fault kids are getting sick. That’s why the therapy bill will go to him.
The teacher wants all the praise for enduring suffering while she blames the Governor for everything. It would be appropriate for the Governor to apply the teacher’s post to himself since he is the one who is actually shouldering the responsibility for “teaching during a pandemic.”
There is an abundance of people who think they deserve recognition for enduring hardship. Before you applaud them, make sure they’re not stealing someone else’s accolades.
“They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.”
– 1 Peter 4:4
