L M S

The school year has started in the public schools and in some private schools nationwide. As teachers prepare for the coming of the students, many are perplexed with the existing laws that make “disciplining” the students in school a challenge.

Very recently in a lecture on the Child Protection Policy of the Department of Education, Dean Ulan P. Sarmiento III of the San Beda College Alabang School of Law cautioned teachers on the “dos and don’ts” in the exercise of special parental authority over minor pupils. The bottom line is – the law requires so much from teachers in caring and disciplining pupils while under their custody, but restricts them with too little tools in the performance of this obligation.

It is indeed a gargantuan challenge to deal with our children belonging to Generation Z or i Generation (born mid90s to around 2012). These are children of Millennials (late 70s to early 90s) and the Generation X (60s – 70s). These children play computers, Ipads, Iphones and other electronic gadgets at a very young age. They access the internet daily, confine themselves in their rooms, listen to pop and indie music, and are digital and techie in so many ways.

Decades ago, our parents would get mad at us if we tell them we were scolded by our teachers in front of the class for failing to pass a homework. They would not mind if we were shouted at and hit with a chalk or eraser for not listening; smacked on the hand with a ruler for uncut and dirty fingernails; asked to stand in the corner of the room for being noisy; etc. These were part of growing up and most of us may claim that we were more disciplined during our time.

Times have changed and the difficulty of adapting to the generational shift in permissible disciplinary methods often leads to administrative complaints or even court cases against teachers for even the very mundane reasons. A teacher who angrily confronts a student for cheating or presses a forefinger on the head with the usual “ilagay mo yan sa kukote mo” comment, may be charged for child abuse on the allegation that the pupil suffered emotional or psychological injury. The most daunting challenge to a teacher now is not how to prepare a lesson plan, but how to effectively teach and discipline more “unruly” children, with passionately confrontational parents, and under very restrictive rules. Teachers may be tempted to see nothing and hear nothing just to be safe, but this is not possible because of their significant responsibility in the formation of students.