Why are you picking on me?

I'm making an example of you, to send a message out to people everywhere: that if you want to hurt another human being, you'd better make damn sure they're the same color as you.

Judge from South Park

Funny...not.

I had a student calling me racist and threatening to get me fired. That was the first time someone ever played the race card on me. I felt like chuckling in disbelief, the accusations were so unjustified. In high school such things are considered a joke, almost a part of the local folklore, they come up so often. But this was middle school and the girl was dead serious. Two other students from the group of troublemakers joined her in this "riot" and stormed out of the classroom.

I wasn't afraid. I felt sad that this situation was happening. Students who were the only ones continually disrupting the class, had all the courage to blame it on the issue of race, failing to adhere to reason and my explanations. The girls were not using race just as an excuse, at least not obviously so. I still think that at least one of them sincerely believed she was being mistreated because of the color of her skin. The matter ended with all the girls apologizing to me..of course not without a slight nudge from the discipline office.

Nevertheless, there are so many other students out there perceiving teachers as enemies, whose every second is occupied thinking up of some evil ploy to mistreat them. No, in their eyes teachers are not reprimanding kids for behavior issues or performance in school. It's either ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or anything else that doesn't have to do with something in students' hands to change. It's always unfair.

Schools without strong connection between educators and administration could be creating a serious problem reinforcing such mentality of irresponsibility, punishing teachers for students' misunderstanding -- or sometimes even -- straight-up lying. Children learn that this is not their fault, it's not up to them to change anything. A lot of the times in these situations I wonder what parents' views are on their child's education.

Checks and balances are great. That's what keeps this country from falling into a swamp of sweeping corruption. In this situation though teachers, parents, and students can not afford to point fingers and fight. We're all in the same boat here...we should be...we aren't. As one of my students once told me, "I'm going to write a referral on YOU!"