Teachers behaving badly

Remember the days when teachers where well-respected members of society? Well, the recent teacher fight was a dose of reality that brought light to events. Unfortunately, fighting is not the only bad habit that is happening in workplaces all over, not just in education.{{more}}

Workplace violence has a negative impact that runs much deeper than a company’s embarrassment and public humiliation. It destroys employee morale and can devastate workplace productivity. But, more importantly, the physical wounds of those involved must be addressed.

Fighting on the job should be cause for automatic dismissal. Some actions should not be tolerated, especially in today’s world and environment.

Unhappiness and dissatisfaction might start with what seems to be a simple fight. But, we’ve all heard the stories of disgruntled workers who bring weapons to work and attack fellow workers. Should employers wait until an employee’s actions escalate into a gunfight?

Employers, if you don’t have one already, now is a great time to develop a policy on handling workplace violence. It would also be a great time to inform your employees about that policy and to outline what actions will be taken to provide safe conditions for all workers. If anger management or workplace violence prevention programmes are not part of your current HR package, this might also be a good time to begin offering such information to your employees.

Employees, watch how you interact with your coworkers. Be wary, especially, of people who like to bully their coworkers, and seek assistance if you feel threatened. If your employer does not offer such resources or if you are not comfortable asking for help at your place of employment, search it out on your own. You’ll find many online resources and referral agencies for workers who feel bullied.

While on the topic of teachers behaving badly, let’s not stop at violence. Let’s look at another behavior that is often kept hush-hush: affairs between teachers and students. For years, teachers have coerced students into illicit affairs while many around both parties have turned blind eyes and swept the ugly incidents under the rug.

Physical relations with students is not a recent problem – teachers have been preying on students for years. Teachers returning to teach high school and finding themselves in compromising situations with young girls – and now young boys – is quite unprofessional. This despicable practice is not limited to male teachers, either – incidents with female teachers are becoming more common as well. (To be fair, teachers should be educated about how to handle situations in which a student is the initiator.)

Of course, teachers are not the only culprits in these types of acts. Senior executives and other people in power also “take advantage” of young interns and new hires.

Take time to enlighten young people about inappropriate sexual advances and to empower them with information on what to do about them. Sex is all around and its availability and influence are only growing with advanced technology. Young people, of any age and level of experience, should be able to report such activities confidentially and should be aware of where to get help.

It doesn’t matter what field you are in. Employers should grasp this opportunity to educate their workers, so that when any professional decides to behave badly, they know the consequences-up front.

Karen Hinds President/CEO –
Workplace Success Group,
Toll Free: 1-877-902-2775;
Tel: 1-203-757-4103
A CT Winner of the Make Mine a Million Dollar Business award!
Karen@WorkplaceSuccess.com
www.WorkplaceSuccess.com
Creator of The Workplace Success Program (TM)