School teachers are bad.  That is the simple truth.  Teachers are not bad, but school teachers are.  The job of a teacher is to teach, obviously, but the job of a school teacher should reach further.

It often seems that teachers do not care at all about the knowledge their students gain, or even about the students themselves, but rather only for the numbers and grades that represent success or failure.  The duties of a school teacher should not only be to ensure that a student “passes” the class, but to make sure that the student has sufficient knowledge at the end of the year to show that they gained something from the class.

I demand that school teachers go about their work in a different manner.  The first duty of a teacher should be to form a relationship with his or her students.  When a teacher is more personal with students, we pay more attention, and overall, learn more.  A teacher who lectures for 45 minutes every day of the school year will not achieve nearly as much as one who develops a relationship with the students.

Why do we students learn more from a teacher who works on a personal level?  There are several reasons, one being that a teacher who simply lectures makes us feel as if he or she does not care if we pass, whereas a teacher who develops a bond and is actively working to get through to each individual student gives us a sense of security and confidence.

I was on the El Modena Water Polo team my Freshman and Sophomore years of High School.  My Freshman year I had three coaches: Flinn, Matt, and Edwin, who showed up halfway through the season.  Coach Flinn led varsity while Matt and Edwin were in charge of the rest of us, obviously.  Coach Matt never cared for my attempt to get better at the sport, and never saw me as any good, which I wasn’t at the beginning of the year, or the end.  But I tried my hardest every practice.  I pushed myself harder than many other teammates, but since I was still the worst (or one of), I was a lowlife, worth nothing.  I saw no need to try to get better, especially since I never got any playing time. My entire Freshman season I played in a total of three games.  However, that was not until coach Edwin came along, who was the exact opposite of Matt.  He was by far the best coach of the three, and the only one who seemed to remotely care.

Coach Edwin pushed me to be a better player, and gave me a reason to because he knew I could do more than I was showing.  Rather than pointing out only the things we did wrong, or how slow we were while pacing the pool deck, he would get in the water with us, find those of who were the slowest but obviously trying, and push us.  He would encourage us to be faster and better than those around us, gave us a reason to try.  Had Coach Edwin not come to El Modena, I do not believe I would have played a single game all season.  And in the three games Coach Edwin put me in the court, I scored.  I got better at the sport, excelled, and was almost as good as my fellow teammates.  However, Edwin did not return Sophomore year and although I was better than the previous season, I was not paid attention to.  I pushed myself, but did not get any better, because there was no encouragement.  Although I could regularly score during practice, I never got the chance to play, even when I asked Coach Matt to play me. 

Most school teachers are like Coach Matt: distant, uncaring, and most importantly, not encouraging.

That is an issue that must be fixed.

School teachers who are similar to Coach Edwin and few, but they are a gift, brightening our bleak school days with encouragement and fun.  An example of such a teacher who works at El Modena is Mrs. Mull.  I believe that she is the most popular teacher on campus, due to her personal relationships with students.  She treats her students as if she believes that we can achieve something and seeks to give us knowledge, not to make us get a good grade.  The thing is, most students do get good grades in her class because we want to learn from her.

I demand that the teaching system in America be changed; that new standards and rules be set for teachers.  Connecting with students is the most important job of a school teacher, because otherwise they are a waste, taking up our time with no positive outcome, bringing students only stress at getting a good grade, which we have been forced to see as the standard.  Most school teachers are bad.  That is the simple truth.  School teachers should encourage their students.  That is the simple truth.