The instances of disrespect that I have endured from those under the age of eighteen since entering the teaching field are too numerous to elucidate in one article. The kids initiating these disreputable actions cut across gender, represent any number of ethnic groups, and don’t belong to any one socioeconomic class. Today’s kids are bolder and the complete disregard for decorum in most situations is widespread.

Lack of regard for elders can take place under any circumstances, especially (but not limited to) when a kid is amongst peers and the adult in charge finds it difficult to focus on the one responsible for causing the disturbance amidst those encouraging the chaos. Parents of the children who are held accountable for committing transgressions often rely on this scenario in order to be able to respond with, "How do you know it was my kid?” or "It wasn’t just my kid, did you call the other parents?” or "It’s not my fault you can’t control your class!” All of these responses dodge the question, "What are you as the parent going to do at home to ensure that your child has a healthy respect for those in charge under any circumstances?” This means that whether or not your child is slow, gifted, excited, bored, angry, or tired during the school day, there is still a responsibility to follow rules and respect the business of learning.

To be sure, rudeness isn’t just relegated to the schools. Let me begin by recounting an experience I had on Halloween. It was about 4ish when I answered the door for four boys, all in about 8th grade. They were each picking out some candy and I remarked that the gumballs were really sour. One of the boys told me that "his balls were really sour, too!” Though put off, I was hardly surprised because what I hear in the hallways and classrooms of my school isn’t any different and in many instances much worse.

One would think handling disrespect or misbehavior would be as simple as issuing a gentle reminder to the offender about how to behave, giving a stern warning about getting the parent involved, making a phone call home, writing a detention, sending a student to the principal, or even resorting to a one day suspension. The above combined with the low grade that usually results when a kid’s focus is on disruption rather than positive participation should be motivation to try hard to succeed in school. All of these consequences should deter a student from disrespecting a peer or a teacher, at the very least from repeating the offensive behavior. So why aren’t they failsafe? Why are kids disrupting the educational process to the extent that learning doesn’t take place at the rate required to rightfully be promoted to the next grade level? Why are there so many repeat offenders?

Administration has chosen to reward almost any behavior that is not negative in their belief that it will promote positive attitudes toward the institution of school. Personally, I find outrageous the idea that in the Chicago Public Schools, simply attending classes, rather than committing truancy earns the students rewards. In my district, students who misbehave are treated with kid gloves. Aside from being given extreme amounts of latitude for living in an apartment complex known for gang activity, living in a home with a single working parent, living in a home with a single unemployed parent, living in a home with too much money, living in a home with not enough money, experiencing a death in the family, adjusting to a new member in the family, living with an extended family member, (the list is as long as the mitigating circumstances for each individual situation), the teacher is usually faulted for the student’s misbehavior for the following reason: not setting up an educational environment that appropriately engages the student in the educational process at an educational level appropriate to that student.

Is it any wonder that good kids, intrinsically motivated and raised to value the educational process and whose educational instruction is repeatedly disrupted by peers who don’t respect the educational process are becoming extinct? Their needs aren’t being accommodated in schools that tolerate disrespect, misbehavior, and low motivation. Teachers learn to teach to the lowest denominator and rely on the capable kids to motivate themselves.

I believe that the schools should be first and foremost a place to learn. Today’s teachers are not only expected to teach a mandated curriculum that meets the state standards for education, but are expected to do this while accommodating all of the individual learning abilities of all students. No child is to be left behind or taught in a self contained classroom. Every student is to be mainstreamed into the regular curriculum and accommodated by the teacher. Many difficult students do not meet the criterion for labeling yet pose additional challenges in the classroom. Teachers are charged with an impossible agenda without the cooperation of the students and support of their families, who in the schools of today are enabled to slide through the whole process without taking responsibility for their own role in the educational process.

I don’t believe that a sufficient amount of learning can take place under these circumstances. It gets harder and harder as a teacher to stay motivated and excited about the subject matter and the task at hand, education. It is also increasingly difficult continuing to motivate students, getting them to focus on the material and learn what’s needed to be learned in the face of so much adversity, disrespect, and disregard for the teachers entrusted with their education. It’s time for the administrations and the parents to step up to the plate! It is also time for the children to take stock in their own lives.

Nancy Salvato is a middle school teacher in Illinois and an independent contractor for Prism Educational Consulting. She is the Educational Liaison to IL Sen. Ray Soden and she works with national and local organizations furthering the cause of Civic Education. She is a columnist for American Daily, The Common Voice, GOP-USA, OpinionEditorials and The New Media Journal.us. Her writing has been recognized by the US Secretary of Education. She has been published in The Washington Times, The Washington Dispatch, Iconoclast, Free Republic Network & Townhall.com., as well as other nationally and internationally published media outlets.