The authority in a class and the value of a teacher’s presence looks dwindling in the educational institutions. The lame excuses of students are challenging for the teachers.
For decades, we have been taught to show admiration and respect for teachers, regardless of which discipline of studies one belongs to. Meanwhile, the current scenario in schools, colleges, and universities seems to appear as something shying away from those traditional or antique yet ethically right injunctions, often disseminated among the students by their parents or family members. Now, the problem, worsening by leaps and bounds, is that “The pupils’ lame excuses are acts of defiance against the discipline of the educational system and against the respect of teachers?”
Making an excuse of any type during an ongoing class is an open resistance to both the authority of a teacher and the discipline of an educational institution, no matter whether it is a school, college, or university.
“Almost in every class I go, the excuses are sure to confront the knowledge I am delivering to students. Sometimes, I feel that I am being mocked, which dwindles my morale to stay in a class and deliver the rest of the lecture and 0akes me stop teaching as a result of being disowned by the own students. Not only does that provoke my anger but also an unnecessary excuse challenges my authority to maintain discipline in a class. Any excuse, no matter whether true or false, spoils the flow of the lecture and it can somehow break a teacher’s connectivity of thoughts psychologically.” A teacher at a top public sector university in Lahore expressed his views on students’ excuses.
One of the most common excuses, according to Professor Mansoor Malik, a media educationist serving in the University Of Central Punjab, is “Sir! My parents are ringing me up and it’s urgent to pick the call as there must have been an emergency”.
Don’t the student’s family members know that he 6r she is in a class and liable to attend the lectures properly and need not be given a call, or is one oneself making a dishonest excuse for certain reasons? In most cases, students make lame excuses to leave class and cover up their other friendly, entertaining, and outing related tasks.
It has also been observed that a small percentage of excuses are true and students have real-time emergencies to deal with. The excuses can be valid but the negative side is in the majority.
The burgeoning lame excuses are indicators of disrespect for teachers’ authority and institutions’ discipline. To curb such a psyche is essential to preserve the utmost respect for pedagogues, which they certainly deserve. The unwavering commitment to respecting teachers has to be made with a stepped-up responsibility lest teachers should lose the importance the culture has bestowed upon them.
Upon asking a student leaving a class in University about what he had to do outside and has left the class for, he replied that he was going to meet his friend and sip coffee in a café.
“I am going to the toilet, I have to purchase a pen, I forgot my notebook outside and need to bring it in, I have to submit my fee and today is the last day for submission, I had an emergency for which I could not submit the assignment before deadline, I am feeling unwell and cannot participate in discussions, and I did not remember to memorize the lessons” are some common excuses, often proven false, as the result of students’ lack of interest in attending a lecture or performing well in studies.
It seems because of an irresponsible attitude that students show no or negligible respect for teachers and have taken showing reverence to teachers for granted. The teaching profession is a nation-building occupation that ought to be given due regard.
The veracity of excuses is another issue that all teachers face and that they cannot scrutinize the facts is a matter for worry. Neither teachers can stop the students from making excuses nor can they validate the reasons pupils have held accountable for any disruptions, no matter what kind of excuse is involved. Sometimes, teachers have to allow students to leave a class, to do what has been undone, and to arrange what has been unarranged, but other times teachers become stubborn to give such leniency and let anger and stress be heavy on them, ultimately propelling them towards morale downfall.
Back in previous decades, parents were reluctant to say a single word against the esteem of a teacher, even if the teacher may have beaten their child. That was all because everybody had a realization of how graceful personality a teacher had and how he played a mainstream role in the dynamics of society. Nowadays, the student psyche seems t6 have chosen the wrong direction of interrupting teachers during lectures for something that is useless or unproductive in most cases.
The burgeoning lame excuses are indicators of disrespect for teachers’ authority and institutions’ discipline. To curb such a psyche is essential to preserve the utmost respect for pedagogues, which they certainly deserve. The unwavering commitment to respecting teachers has to be made with a stepped-up responsibility lest teachers should lose the importance the culture has bestowed upon them.
