EDITOR – As a staff member at Thomas More College I am deeply offended by the careless and thoughtless generalisations made about us by Paul in the Highway Mail two weeks ago.
His letter is nothing more than a spiteful and bitter attack on the school as a whole. There is no need for a lengthy response other than to say the following:
As educators at Thomas More College, and indeed at any school, we are qualified professionals. We have degrees in everything from maths and science to English, Zulu, accounting and so on. Our school day comprises educating and interacting with children from all ages on a very personal level. Not only do we educate, we play “mommy and daddy”, we mentor, advise, listen, care, coach, manage and fulfil the multitude of other responsibilities that are expected of us as educators, including finding time in our day to emphasise politeness and manners.
Children will be children and teens will be teens. Why should a small group be seen as representative of all Thomas More College pupils? Are parents not also responsible for teaching their children appropriate behaviour? And what about the community and society as a whole – are they not also responsible for the image portrayed to youngsters about appropriate behaviour? But most importantly, why should the chosen behaviour of a small minority group be considered as an indictment of us as educators?
The next time you, or anybody else for that matter, would like to criticise and berate us teachers, perhaps you should volunteer to work with one of us for a week before you make some ill-informed, blanket statement about teachers as a group.
Mrs T Patterson
Thomas More College educator
