Please Don’t Send Me Back to School! The Reality of Toxic Educational Environments

by Katherine Reilly, originally published in ELT NEWS printed magazine, special thanks to Anastasia Spyropoulou

What’s worse than seeing your students shivering in fear as they hesitantly enter your classroom on the first day of school, only to be frowned upon by their classmates with contempt or even hate? Sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it? How many of us have been bullied at a young age, desperately pleading with our parents to skip school, only to be falsely reassured that nothing awful would befall us? I remember being taunted by my classmates which had grave consequences on my own mental state. I became quite the introvert, rarely participated during lesson and struggled to reach my true potential.

Bullying at school is and always has been a cancer that has prominently prevailed in any educational structure. Analyzing the underlying reasons which lead to hateful behavior will require an article in itself to do so. In short, the root of the problem stems from social inappropriateness and lack of respect. When adolescents are not taught from a young age to appreciate and treat their peers with kindness, disrespectful behavior ensues which in most cases may even lead to disastrous repercussions.

Without a doubt, rearing a child is the responsibility of the parent, whose obligations entail instilling their offspring with the proper social values of empathy, respect and compassion. Their efforts though might fall upon deaf ears, rendering our intervention essential. To be more precise, besides our obvious roles as educators of the field, teaching a language will in many cases come second to the necessity of establishing order in class, ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for our students to reach their true potential. Dedicating the first lessons to building a collaborative framework must be our highest priority. Introductions and small talk are the best way to go as we will witness firsthand any tension between our students. Their reactions are a dead giveaway to any heat amongst them, allowing us to intervene when necessary. In some instances, our immediate response may bear fruit, but this is not always the case. Small fires can be extinguished before they spread, but what of the angst that has been burning among them for weeks, months, even years?

This is obviously a matter of grave magnitude as it will obviously prove detrimental to our students’ progress. Imagine having a student obsessively focused on his own mental and physical integrity all the while attending your lesson. The last thing the child will care about is taking part and learning. I will bluntly step forward and say, the lesson shouldn’t even be our concern at this stage, rather the well-being of a child in desperate need of protection. As educators it falls upon our shoulders to establish order and relieve the classroom of the toxicity it has been plagued with.

Can we, or rather should we overstep our authority and become personally engaged? Do we even have that right? Personally, I would never allow disrespectful behavior in class. Degrading, humiliating or even threatening one’s classmate deserves no less than a verbal reprimand. Such actions must never be allowed in an educational environment. The school principal must be then immediately informed and the parents of both parties brought up to speed with what has transpired. Remaining silent will add fuel to fire and in many cases be acknowledged as our indifference or even approval of their actions.

Actions speak louder than words. On an educational front, we the teachers can make a difference. ELT has always been deprived of inclusive materials since publishers wish to present coursebooks as marketable. This means they lack visual depictions of disabilities or non-stereotypical family dynamics. Even the vocabulary pertains to specific roles and genders, thus subliminally encouraging students to perceive one another as inferior. Introducing students to broader and global materials, ones which reflect the reality of society today, is in itself a catalyst to promoting a safer and diverse learning environment.

Bullying in any form is the foundation of a toxic environment which will in turn have an adverse effect on all parties involved. It’s counterproductive, unethical and worst of all, a danger to our students’ health. Make sure our priorities are set. Start the new school year by abolishing abrasive attitudes. I’m not saying it’s easy, but our students’ safety must always come first.