Raising Merry Hell!

It's not essential to have a sense of humour to be a teacher, but it sure as hell does help. I've met some wonderful people so far, with amazing comic wit, unbelievably witty. Some of these guys have a smart retort for everything, but you can't help but admire that. It's a sardonic sense of humour brewed from years of being under pressure. It's their coping mechanism. If they didn't have that, they'd probably have had breakdowns long ago. God knows the system heavily favours the pupil and their increasingly vociferous parent(s), who blame the teachers instantly for their wayward children's neddishness! Of course the kids are in no way responsible for their own actions, and the parents aren't going to blame themselves or take any responsibility for crafting a well-rounded little individual who thoroughly believes that the World owes him/her!

I've heard some unbelieveable stories, and the major gripes from teachers is not so much the behaviour of some kids, but the lack of support they get from senior management. Terms used to describe senior management; two-faced, back-stabbing, conniving, duplicitous, incompetent, sloping shoulders... the list goes on! Many teachers consider the qualities most desirable for progression to be those which most people would regard with contempt. And once in a position of power, those who have acquired it without just entitlement, will allegedly surround themselves with cronies, who will not only do their bidding, but will readily defend them out of some misguided sense of loyalty, having been promoted by them in the first instance.

Despite all of this, I'm not in the least perturbed. Oh yes, I've been stabbed in the back before, and double-crossed, but ultimately, those sort of people orchestrate their own spectacular downfall eventually, and a complete loss of integrity and trustworthiness must be utterly depressing. I don't have much trouble sleeping and that's the way I intend it to stay. I give everyone a chance, but betray me once and you've made an enemy for life!