Sixth form students don't respect teachers

I am sick and tired of the lack of respect sixth form students show members of staff at their school.  It is not uncommon for students to swear, disregard rules, not do work and generally misbehave while in sixth form.  And whenever a member of staff tries to discipline them, the students accuse them of not respecting them and treating themrs like the adults they are.

One incident occurred in an English Literature lesson; the teacher was in an emergency meeting but had written the work on the board and along with a message assuring the class that she will be back before the end of the lesson.  From then on, instead of completing the set work, 95% of the class decided to sit and talk instead.  Approximately 20 minutes before the end of the lesson, the teacher turned up and decided to question the class on the passage they should have read and annotated in the hour and a half she wasn't there.  When she received no reply to her questions she had the entire class line up with their books ready to show her how much they had done.

Out of a class of about 20 only 3 people had done the assigned work. She spent the remainder of the lesson lecturing the class on respect and the importance of getting the work done, then she proceeded to keep the entire class in for detention, letting only the 3 students that had completed their work go.  Once the detention was over and the students returned to the common room, they then proceeded to whine and moan about how unfair their teacher was being.  I was one of the students in the class and was part of the lucky three that were let go.  And the whole time I was sitting there listening to them all moan about the teacher, I couldn't help but think that it would have never happened if they had shown her respect, the same respect that they wanted in return.

Another incident (one of many) was when a 'friend' of mine was speaking to her teacher and every other word was followed by obscenity.  I couldn't help but stare at her in shock, although relationships with teachers were slightly less formal than before, they certainly weren't so informal that one could simply curse and swear to them as though they were your drinking buddy.

When the teacher had then told her off for her language, my 'friend' reported them for inconsiderate behaviour...  I was both astonished and angry.  I can't help but wonder why these sixth form students suddenly feel as though the teachers have absolutely no authority over them and believe that they can do whatever they please.  I sincerely hope one day that this behaviour leads to the consequences they deserve and that they learn to respect those that they want respect from.

By: KP