Students don't say thank you, please or excuse me. Without fail, every day I end up helping a student with an article of clothing. Now I know my 3 year old children can't truly be expected to have stellar manners quite yet, but in the 6 months I have been helping with zippers, buttons, lunch boxes and runny noses, not once have I heard a single 'gracias' - from any student of any age. And they don't say please, they give orders. "Look at this, read this, do this, give me this" AHH! Never have I heard an 'excuse me" In fact, I have a 5 year old student who I'm actually scared might run me over one day. She has incredible strength for a child. Students don't raise their hands to speak, they yell to get your attention, they hit you to get your attention, they tug at your shirt, they openly yell how your blackboard drawings are ugly (yes this has happened to me - sorry I can't draw monsters!). Anybody who is a teacher in the United States - is this normal?
I know I can't blame the children because their parents are the exact same way. Walking down the street is quite the task. Nobody moves out of the way. Sometimes they watch you coming, stare at you, and still proceed to hold their ground or even move directly into your path if they weren't there already. It's absurd. I have finally learned to stay strong while I'm walking..but this is almost worse as it usually results in a lot of shoulder bumps. I also struggle at the grocery store. Sometimes people stand directly in front of a certain selection of items, see you coming up to that same section, and continue to block access to ALL of the pasta. As I was leaving the store the other day I went pretty well out of my way to hold open the door for a lady walking in on her phone. She didn't even glance at me. You're welcome!!
It's not normal for the States.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel. I have to convince myself that they're not rude; they just don't have the same social expectations as we do. I try to think of how rude I might seem in Japan or something. (I suppose brash might be a better way of putting it?)
I dealt with high schoolers, and they were so rude -- all the time. They made fun of my accent; they laughed at my clothing; they asked me if I had sex ... en fin, very rude. :(