Students of today do not fear nor do they respect the teachers, administrators, or for that matter their parents. Why? It is my opinion that it is because we as educators are now afraid to discipline. We fear what will be said to us by the administration or by the parents. There will be no one to back us up in a situation. Unfortunately the students know this and use it as leverage to avoid punishment of any kind.

The students also know that they are in control of their parents, not the other way around. A perfect example to back up this statement follows. I met a mother whose child was in my third-grade class. She told me that she could do absolutely nothing with her child. She could not tell her to do anything and have the child do it. In fact, the child would tell her what to do. Can you imagine how horrible it must have been to have to admit that about your own child and yourself as well? Or the case of the parent who told me she was afraid to go to sleep at night because she feared being harmed by her child. There was also the student who had to be removed from the household for trying to burn the baby. He used to take out his glass eye in class to make the other students scream during a lesson. One student told me that his big brother was going to come and kill me; another threw a desk at me. This, believe it or not, are just a few of the things I personally experienced in my years. I will recount more true stories throughout the book that apply to different chapters.

On the flip side, meet the parent who dismisses any wrong that their child does or tells you that it is your problem, not theirs. For example, I had a student from my class sitting in an assembly and cursing. I was sitting farther down the row with my class (which I always did) and heard him. I called the parent up and told her what had occurred. She said that I was lying because her child read the Bible every night and wouldnt do such a thing. She went one step further and asked her child if what I said was true. The child said, No and the mother said, See, I told you! Then there was the child who came to school each morning, waved at his classmates, and went out the other door to rob the neighborhood houses. That mother tried to sue the school for not keeping the child in school.

I was always given the tough to handle students because you can handle it. There were times aplenty when I would have to break up fights in the classroom or in the halls. Vandalism occurred each week, sometimes daily, to be cleaned up. I also did daily counseling for students as well as some of the concerned parents. The diffusion of attitudes, grudges, short fuses, and supposed insults was vast. It is amazing what you can accomplish with an evenhanded policy. The very first day I would explain to the class that each person entered my room on the same playing field. They determined where they would end up at the end of the day. No child felt lost if they had a bad day because they started over again the next school day.

My belief was to be hard but fair with the slackers and troublemakers, but I never failed anyone for trying their best. There was never a dumb question asked. If a question was asked it deserved to be answered. Over the years I had many students come back and thank me for what I did for them. That gives you a great feeling. However, some students I taught ended up in prison. At least I know that I tried and did my best for them all equally.

Each year my main goal for the first nine weeks was to establish a respect for authority and for each other, as well as the required curriculum. Each day, time was set aside to discuss proper behavior and discipline as well as rules and why they were necessary. Explaining the need as well as guiding them in making their own class rules and punishments helped them feel a part of the decision-making process and that they were not in a dictatorial situation.

During my time as a teacher I had to break up fights between students where it was dangerous to get in there, but most of the time I was able to defuse the situation by getting them into a discussion of what happened and why did it happennot who started it. Also, what could be done to clear up the situation. There were times Id have to stagger the dismissal of opponents to keep them apart until they had cooled off.

Knives and guns have been brought into my classroom, which I had to deal with. Today children are prone to more violence and unfortunately they are also more afraid of each other. Were faced with a much more violent environment in our schools than when I was teaching. Todays educators are afraid of their students and what they can or will do to them. I guess I was lucky in that respect or completely innocent to those possibilities, because I was never afraid to tell my students what was expected of them and tell them when they were wrong. I really cant say if I would be afraid today or not. It is very scary for an educator today, and thankfully I am out of that situation.

Discipline is necessary to maintain a balance of rights and wrongs, rewards and punishments. I dont mean corporal punishment is a must, but give some authority back to the classroom teacher and I will guarantee that the learning curve will increase and the school will be a safer, more productive place of learning.