Teachers’ main concern should not be becoming friends with their students. In movies, you always see teachers and students who maintain almost a parent-child relationship. Although it usually works out great for them, this type of relationship can cause a long list of problems.
Although I have multiple teachers who I feel I have built solid relationships with, it’s not a good idea for teachers to make that their top priority. When teachers try too hard to connect with their students, they tend to end up breaking some of the normal ethics for teachers.
A lot of teachers end up getting too comfortable with their kids, and they will start talking about other students to them. No student wants their teachers to be telling other students their business. Part of being a teacher is being trusting and respectful to your students, so speaking of other students’ personal things is the opposite of what is expected for a teacher.
Another problem that tends to occur is teachers bending or changing the rules for their students. It might feel good to the students who have these types of perks, but in reality it can set them back. Nothing good comes from letting them get away with things that they aren’t going to be able to get away with in their future school life.
In addition, teachers need to stop oversharing. I understand teachers have their own problems. Teachers are human too, but teachers shouldn’t come to school to trauma dump and place their personal worries onto their students. Students already have enough on their plate, so adding more stress can really impact a student. There is a time and place for everything, but school is where students are meant to get an education, not sit around chatting with teachers instead of doing work.
These problems can lead to less education being spread. Education is very important for kids, especially high school students. This is when kids find out who they are and who they want to be. If teachers are too busy trying to gossip with kids or let the kids slack off when there is work to do, the kids aren’t going to gain the knowledge they need.
Don’t get me wrong, I know plenty of teachers who manage to maintain a good relationship with students while also teaching them what they need to learn. I’m not saying it’s always a bad thing when teachers are close with their students, but it gets to a certain point where it becomes their main goal, and that is far from what they need to be focused on.
In the end, I believe that there are a lot more obstacles that come along with teachers pushing close relationships with their students than there are rewards, and it should never be their primary concern.
