Second parents

Our schools are in dire need of mental health care providers.

This came to my mind as I watched that viral video of a public school teacher who recorded it herself on TikTok Live, with her angry face in close-up for clear identification.

In venting publicly, she seemed to be at her wit’s end and must be seriously considering a career change.

It’s noteworthy that while a common reaction to the outburst was condemnation of the woman, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) urged the public to withhold judgment until the full circumstances are established.

A significant number of the comments on the viral video were also sympathetic to the angry woman, with some blaming even parents for bad upbringing of their children.

Also noteworthy is that among the proposals in the TDC statement was amending the Child Protection Act. I’m guessing the amendments being sought aim to give teachers more leeway in disciplining troublemakers in class.

“Teachers are always at a disadvantage,” TDC national chairman Benjo Basas lamented in the statement. “While we will never tolerate any wrongdoing by our colleagues in the profession, we will defend their right to due process, enshrined not only in the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers but also in the Philippine Constitution.”

In a related development, the University of Cebu dismissed yesterday an instructor at its Banilad campus who was heard in an audio recording telling students to harm themselves, and that he would “love it should you commit suicide.” The instructor’s mother, a fellow teacher at the UC, also resigned.

UC students have been given a weeklong break to de-stress following the incident. The university has also reportedly enlisted 30 guidance counselors and mental health professionals to provide counseling to the UC academic community. We have an acute shortage of psychiatrists, psychologists and trained mental health counselors, so it’s impressive that UC found 30 of them.

“The faculty is in full agreement that his actions are absolutely unacceptable,” UC chancellor Candice Gotianuy said. “By suspending classes, we are giving students time and space to heal. By letting him go and asking the students to see a counselor, we are rebuilding our safe place.”

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The controversies have reminded me of the violence and highly stressful environments reportedly faced by teachers particularly in inner city schools in the United States. The strong gun culture in the US heightens the threat of violence – as we have seen in numerous deadly school shootings in the past years.

Filipinos are among the brave souls who are teaching in such schools. I met some of them in my visits to the US, and they confirmed the stories.

I remembered them as I watched the viral two-minute video of the teacher lashing out at students for forgetting their “boundaries,” for showing disrespect and turning her into an object of ridicule.

The students must be in their late teens and preparing for entry into the workforce, because the teacher harrumphed that given their intellectual deficiency and bad attitude, they would likely flunk professional board exams.

They would amount to nothing, achieve nothing in life, and they have no place in the world, the teacher told the “ingrates” who are “ugaling squatter.”

Those harsh, demeaning words are not surprising from someone like Rodrigo Duterte, but appalling and painful to hear from someone whose life’s calling is to educate young minds.

What brought it on, with the insulting remarks even livestreamed on a global messaging app?

The Department of Education has launched a probe. Under DepEd guidelines issued in 2012, all public school teachers serve as “second parents” in school and must adhere to a zero-tolerance policy on child abuse. This includes any act or statement that “debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being.”

Under this child protection policy, however, the DepEd also acknowledged that “cases of abuse may arise as a result of the difficult situations faced by teachers and other officials within and outside school.”

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The Abu Sayyaf has targeted teachers for kidnapping, rape, mutilation and use as human shields in the conflict zones of Mindanao. But outside the conflict zones, we’re not yet seeing US-style gun violence in our schools.

Still, we must also find out what could have triggered that teacher’s outburst. Perhaps we can see reasons beyond low salaries for the decision of many of our teachers to work overseas.

Undoubtedly, it’s not the first time that teachers have berated students in this country. But in the age of social media, such incidents can now be recorded and even livestreamed.

The TDC proposed several measures to make the teaching environment less stressful. Among these is reducing the class size to no more than 30 students.

Raising teachers’ salaries and lightening the workload are long-running demands of teachers, along with sick and vacation leave benefits to promote physical and mental well-being. TDC emphasizes the importance of having teachers maintain a stable work-life balance.

TDC is also pushing for institutionalizing policies on alternative school discipline, to be agreed upon by school administrators, teachers, parents and learners. This will involve amending certain provisions of Republic Act 7610, the Child Protection Act of 1992.

Last year, the House committee on basic education tackled the proposed amendments, which include defining disciplinary actions that teachers can carry out in the classroom without being accused of child abuse.

An educator told the committee that some teachers have faced complaints of child abuse for making a student stand up and face the wall for disrupting classes.

Before things get out of hand, stakeholders must find ways to make learning less stressful for students and teachers alike.

As things stand, Philippine education is already in crisis, with our 15-year-old students performing badly in mathematics, science and reading comprehension.

Turning the classroom into a battleground between teacher and students obviously is not conducive to learning. As the UC chancellor put it, a school must be a safe place.