Tolerance

As the PSI level maintains its toxic high for the past few days, the teachers wonder if the MR tour will die a natural death after all the efforts.

Another thing that had kept its all-time high was my tolerance level. While teachers got frustrated and cranky over their classes, I seemed to be in a world of my own - a world without the white slips or any dictatorship. Yet. Am I too laissez faire with my classes or are they as good as they seem to be? Reminding someone for rude behaviour the other day came through only as an afterthought and I don't think the delayed effect was best for our students. Perhaps years of working with youths of a different league have implanted an even more accepting and tolerant streak in me but here we are talking about a group of students who are supposed to be leaders and should have good character. At this age of theirs, how much 'training' do they need? How much does it take to greet someone as a sign of respect and out of pure courtesy or do we need to rigorously enforce that? Do they understand the concept of atrocious behaviour which is the equivalent of a heart-breaking experience for the teachers when they lied so badly or even conspired with unwilling parties on undesirable deeds? Today, someone got frustrated and cried when all we want is to be able to have some faith and trust in our students. Trust, which once broken, may never mend. Talk about the mushroom of cynical teachers.

I believe my students are good people. Perhaps sometimes, they need a proper signage to direct them but they are as wonderful as they are. We all need some faith and I refuse to succumb to that cynism that festers in the reality of working life because I am afterall, supposed to be the pinnacle of optimism for some. Well, at least until proven otherwise.