Teachers as Role Models: The Good, The Bad, and The Unforgettable

Teachers are molders and architects of society that shape young minds and lay the foundation of future generations. The role of a teacher in the lives of students is enormous, as it's not only about molding them academically but also morally and socially. Being a teacher myself, I understand that we're supposed to inspire confidence, spark curiosity, and instill values that last a lifetime in the students, reflecting on our days as students; I'm sure many of us can recall those teachers whose dedication and impact transformed our lives; however, some teachers do the opposite of these, leading to them not being liked by the students, and in this article I'll be sharing some of my experience with a teacher I don't like during my school days and why.

During my school days I remember I had some teachers who played their role so well and even went beyond the classroom to guide us students towards our dreams and ambitions, and I can say for a fact that without teachers the world as we know it would be the shadow of itself; after all, we all are teachers in one way or another, since we impact lives in diverse ways.

But then some teachers, on the other hand, just turn an environment that ought to be safe and inspiring into a den of fear, frustration, and resentment. It's just so annoying that some of these teachers actions lead to students falling out of love with a subject, even if it's an important one, probably due to their acts of favoritism, neglect, harsh treatment, and the like. They, being the bad eggs of this profession, go on to leave a lasting negative impression on the students, just like the one I want to share below does to me and several other students.

Aside from that, he also had very nasty and unruly behaviors that play a huge role in why I dislike him, which is seizing any items that don't belong to the school that a student put on to school, items such as a belt of a different color compared to what the school demands or sandals and the like. While I understand that this is a norm that should be done, what he did after taking those items isn't, and that's why I don't like him at all. He has the habit of wearing anything he seizes from students; that's making it his own, be it a watch, belt, shoes, or the like.

And these lead to students looking at him with disgust, like, is the teaching profession that terrible that a teacher had to wear what he seized from a student and come to school with it every single day like he owns it or buys it with his money? For me, on a particular day, my normal white belt that we usually wear in our school broke, and I had no choice but to wear an authentic brown leather belt I recently purchased to school. He saw it and seized it. I tried to explain to him why I wore it, but he never listens, and from the next day, he started wearing the belt he seized from me to school, and each time I see it on him, I dislike him more.

While I won't say what he did was wrong by seizing the belt I wore, he, wearing it alongside other things he took from other students, made me feel like it's a blatant injustice and a firsthand abuse of his position of authority; teachers ought to be looked up to with pride, not with resentment like I had with this one.

All photos are mine.