No Strict Teachers in Heaven? Prepping Kids for the “Cruel” World or Helping Them Break It?

🕑 3 minutes

When school starts you hear stories of new teachers and new challenges, like having “strict” teachers.

One story in our home went like this:

Teacher A asked a question to the class. Student B asked for it to be repeated. Teacher A makes public example of Student B for not listening.

I don’t know the details, but it made me wonder:

Did the child really not hear the question? Maybe s/he genuinely didn’t understand it? Was s/he just being too rowdy to hear? Was the teacher being extra tough to enforce or maintain group order?

Teachers are always outnumbered (#Respect), and it takes special skill (miracle?) to get through a day without some chaos or exhaustion. Parents don’t have it easy either-–stop asking me for stuff, I’m losing my mind!! (I gasp at Child 4, while Child 2 is banging a fork in a bowl, Child 3 is humming and twirling under the table, and Child 1 is starting negotiations with me on Gaming hours..).

But what tactics are best, and is encouraging kids even part of our M.O., or is it just about surviving another day?

I asked my (super grounded) husband for his thoughts and got this:

“Jasmine, all kids experience tough teachers some time. It prepares them for the real, cruel world.”

Hmmm.

Sure, if you never experienced rejection or criticism, you may crumble under the same as a teen or adult. But then I wondered: should we accept or condone this prep for the “real world”? Isn’t rigidity, rejection and criticism stuff of this earth, rather than the heaven-stuff we’re destined for?

If so, maybe it’s not about kids learning to cope with the big, bad world, but about them striving to break it? (tweet)

My greatest teachers in patience, self-sacrifice, kindness beyond natural ability, and mirrors/breakers of anger, inflexibility and perfection have been my kids. No amount of Ted Talks build in me or burn-down in me what they do…

“The crucible for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts.”  (Proverbs 17:3)

And maybe it’s not just about strict teachers, but also crazy bosses, difficult colleagues, frazzled friends, greedy politicians… Maybe our lives and troubles aren’t just about us.

Maybe we all suffer a bit because, deep down in our divine-DNA, we’re fighting to create a bit more Heaven on Earth. (click to tweet)

Life is hard and we can all benefit from encouragement and acceptance. Even plants that were spoken to (e.g. ‘great job little guy, you’re doing so well…’) did better than the ones that only got water and sunlight.

So maybe, though there is no paycheck, official education, or global spotlight, some of our best efforts are spent encouraging each other in the home, classroom, office, community…

And the next time your kids are making you crazy, try to stop and reflect if they’re not purifying something out of your own heart.

<3

How do you encourage others or yourself in this age of depression, anxiety and self-hate? Did you have any teachers that made a positive impact on your life? If so, what kind of teacher was it? Please share in the comments!

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Check or Share these related blog posts:
– Confessions of a Perfectionist Tongue: What I didn’t Say to My Son This Morning
– The Last Wall : Are Our Hearts the Hardest Border to Break?
– If People are like Trees, Here’s to all the Weeping Willows (Sensitivity = Strength)