Teaching styles have vastly changed over the years, not too long ago nuns were hitting naughty children with rulers and now there is a wave of positivity-based teaching overtaking the modern-day classroom. Teachers yelling at their students has been a hot debate recently, but the question still stands, is it ok to yell at a child, especially one that isn’t your own?
Generally, child abuse is pretty frowned upon in this day and age but yelling teachers dance precariously on the line between abuse and a reasonable response to bad behavior. When asked about the ethics of teachers yelling at students Atticus said, “If teachers are yelling, they should have a good reason, if they are yelling for students not understanding that’s bad” The sentiment that yelling can be justified was echoed by Magnus who said “I think that teachers yelling can aid in controlling a classroom but it’s not that great for students’ mental health”.
Teachers yelling at their students is supported by the concept that sometimes yelling really is the only option, like it says in a slate.com article titled Is It Ok For a Teacher To Yell At Her Students? It says “The noise in a classroom or cafeteria or gymnasium has become so loud that a dramatic increase in volume will inevitably get the students’ attention and immediately silence them.” While yelling will undeniably get students attention it may be damaging for their mental health. This idea is supported by a Wikihow article titled How to Not Cry When a Teacher Yells at You. The very existence of this article shows that teachers yelling is a much larger problem that it may seem. In it, it says things such as “If you can’t physically remove yourself from the situation, you can still remove yourself mentally from the stress. Focus your mind on something else to help you keep your cool while you’re being yelled at.” The fact that students feel as though they have to play mind games just to not cry when confronted by a teacher is proof that the act of yelling does more harm than good.
Ultimately teachers are going to yell, but this doesn’t make it ok. If you can imagine yourself in a child’s shoes being verbally berated by an adult, It is a scary thought and suddenly crying seems like a fair response. This puts into perspective just how messed up this age-old educator’s habit really is.
