Stupid Teacher!

by Kelly Knowlden

Sometimes our children come home with the kind of statements that are reflected above. Then they proceed to tell us why they think that the teacher is stupid. They, like us, are compelling in their reasons because they feel wronged. “If they would only see it my way...” and they proceed to tell how the situation “should have gone.”

As parents, how do we deal with this in a way that is sympathetic to our children and yet helps them understand the nature of reality as God created it? I cannot dismiss their feelings and tell them to “grin and bear it.” Nor can I agree with them that the teacher is stupid. (Even if I suspect that there is something not quite right about what the teacher is demanding or the way a teacher is handling the situation, I must log that into my head to deal with at a separate time. I cannot undermine my own parental authority by questioning the teacher’s decision in front of my child.) So what do I do?

I must listen and ask a lot of questions about what my child is saying. I must refine their statements with them and question their statements when I hear that which is illogical or wrong. I must not assume that my child is purposefully belligerent or lazy or wrong-headed. I must “be on their side” in the sense that the things that they are saying are the things that they “feel” and that must be governed. Then I must help them see things from the teacher’s perspective. Here, I must posit that the teacher is not their enemy and to assume that or respond in that way, denies God’s ordaining authorities for our benefit. (I do not agree with, but must submit to, all the laws of the land as long as they do not violate God’s law.) Learning how to do what the teacher is asking in spite of what it seems is never a bad lesson to teach our children.

Ultimately, I want them to see the authorities in their life as good. I realize that that will not always be true, but for now they will learn how to trust others. There is no better place than learning it here, where our teachers are trustworthy!