Why High School Students Need More Love

Teaching high school is like peeling onions; sometimes it makes you cry. I experienced teaching kids in the elementary level, high school level, and college. I would say that teaching high school is the most challenging. In elementary, kids mostly love to go to school because it seems that learning something new is exciting and kids this age want to get the approval of the teachers. In college, students mostly are already mature enough to focus learning because they want to achieve something. They already have plans for the future. In high school, kids are just too busy focusing on many things that going to school becomes a chore—something they do because they are forced to do it. At this point, students need all the love, acceptance, and understanding they can get from their teachers to help them get through this crucial years in school.

Here are two of the many reasons I see why they need their teachers support:

1. High schoolers are in a confusing stage.
   Some want to be a grown up and they act like one. When their attention is called, they get defensive and most of the time disrespectfully answer the teacher. I have heard of many instances when a male high school students challenged his male teacher to a fist fight. Boys at this age do not want their teachers to be like their moms who nag because they don’t want to be embarrassed in the presence of their classmates who are either their crushes or their enemy who are just waiting for a chance to bully them after class. A teacher whose fuse is short would really have a hard time with these kids. Teachers, be patient with them. We were once like them.

2. High schoolers want to do things their way.
   This is the stage when they always want to test their limit and they do that by being rebellious. They want to know how far can they bend the rules. They do not want to hear restrictions. Many come late in class, submit projects past due date, cut class, and fail. The rate of teenage pregnancy is high at this age. As teachers, helping them understand that rules are like walls of protection for them and not made to cripple them is important. When teachers mean what they say about rules it sends a message to the students that they will get in trouble once they trespass those rules; staying inside the wall protects them. Grace should also be given to those who went astray. The last things these kids need are condemnation and judgment from their teachers.

It seems that a lot are required from a high school teacher. Not everyone is called to teach, and certainly not every teacher is called to be a high school teacher.

Below are real situations from my classroom experiences as a high school teacher. From them I become better every year.

1. On my first year in teaching, I had a student named Monique. She came very late during the first session. Then the class became restless few minutes after she was in class. Sensing she was causing the noise, I called her attention.
   Me: “Monique, why are you making noise? Do you want war or peace with me?”
   She did not answer. That afternoon, the principal called me to her office because Monique told her about what I said. Lesson: be careful what you say to them. They take everything personally. After sometime Monique and I became friends. But she could never forget about our encounter neither could I forget my talk with the principal about it.

A tree nurturing time

1. Recently I started teaching Grade 7. There are four sections of almost fifty students in a section. My last session in the afternoon is known for being the most problematic. It is a class of mixed ages. There are few students from fifteen to twenty year olds combined with those who are twelve to fourteen. Failing grades do not terrify them anymore; they have many failures already. No lesson plan for a day can be finished in their class. It would take two to three days for a lesson to finish. Since I couldn’t do more academically, I began to pay attention to their behaviour and my way of dealing with them. Oh my, it has an impact. There was one student who is a bully he even peed in a bottle and started spraying it to his classmates. When I knew about it, I reprimanded him and threatened to bring him to the principal the next time he misbehaves. The following day, I noticed that he was trying to control himself and I tried helping him by paying attention. I showed him that I would respect him if he respects himself by not doing mean things to others. I made it a point once in a while to talk to him and ask how is he keeping his part of the deal. After a while, I noticed that he is trying to gain my approval. The quality of his outputs improved too.

Many times I have been faced with different difficult situations in school. However, God knows every one of them before they reach me. He has given me the intellect to act for the best of every party involved. If a student needs more love, God has given me more so I can give. He also has given me grace so I can give grace. I am, after all, a high school teacher because God called me to be.

An after class selfie