One bad apple... can spoil the entire generation

The classroom is a difficult environment in contemporary, first world, educational environments. Just ask any teacher. In fact, just ask any learner. TES, the respected mouthpiece for the education sector reports that as many as a quarter of teachers are walking away... not because of pay, but due to classroom behaviour.
The days of the classroom being the teacher’s ‘domain,’ are well past, and it’s incredibly disappointing, as schools are bent towards breaking by behaviours instilled through ‘snowflake’ ideologies. I’m not advocating a return to the ‘olden days,’ when corporal punishment in schools meant the pain and humiliation of the teacher’s leather strap on your hand, or their bamboo cane on your backside, but something must change to allow teachers to do what they are there to do, to teach, and return behaviours to home and parents.
A snowflake is a fragile hexagonal shaped crystalline structure of clear iced water suspended in the atmosphere, which then falls to the ground, changing shape by attaching to others, forming many diverse shapes, stellar, geometric, plate, and column patterns. A ‘snowflake,’ societally, is a derogatory colloquialism for an individual who has an ego-driven perspective of themselves, seeing themselves as unique and precious, superior. They have an extraordinary sense of entitlement, believing the world revolves around them, and their needs must be prioritised, ahead of all others. They tend towards becoming emotional and offended when these needs are not prioritised.
Today’s pupil/learner snowflake is brought up with an inflated idea of their own importance, which prioritises their lack of tolerance, patience or respect for others. Their physiological, safety and security, and familial needs may well be met, however their confidence, respect for and acceptance of others, their morality, and the way others see them have either not been addressed or been over-inflated. They are an incredibly malignant influence on the classroom, with their constant, intrusive ‘me’-ness. They must go to the bathroom when they want, have ‘their’ movement break because they want, have ‘their’ curiosity or question answered now, and the teacher must stop another student whispering, behind them, and of course probably, about them. Everything is about them! But there’s no ‘I’ in class.
Now, if this were just one or two learners, most teacher’s classroom management, training and experience is such that they, and their class will still learn what they need. Unfortunately, there has been a sharp upswing in unacceptable classroom behaviours since the pandemic as determined in the findings of the Baroness Hallett Covid-19 Enquiry. It is so difficult for teachers to redirect learning with authority and empathy, whilst being ignored, or worse, spoken over. In fact, teachers frequently report being undone by loud, antagonistic, disrespectful and arrogant students. The only two things any teacher can do, that make any difference, are listen and communicate. Of course, they are taught and trained, and gain experience in using patience, empathy, and goodwill, but these are not endless or inexhaustible, and they simply don’t elicit textbook responses from entitled students.
The blame must be attributed to poor parenting, as while understanding that the global pandemic, lockdowns, and their societal implications have negatively impacted upon many of our younger generation, the ill-mannered, disrespectful, entitled behaviours that are occurring daily across the education sector don’t absolve parents from being the ones to redress the situation. They must prepare their children for life in the real world that sometimes ‘isn’t fair,’ where excuses may not be reasons, where authority and supervision reject defiance, dissent and non-compliance, and where the word ‘no’ requires deliberation and consideration.
Why? Because parents can apply patience and discipline at home in ways that teachers cannot at school. They shouldn’t need to deal with issues and situations they must, but their greatest concern is that ‘one bad apple can spoil the barrel.’ And what if your child, your learner, is one of those who just goes to school to learn, but is ‘cheated’ out of the quality learning experience their teacher is trying to provide? How would you feel? More importantly... how do you feel for your child?