Echoing in the school hallways are constant whispers about teachers and students. Teachers especially are consistently attacked for their teaching styles, mistakes, or even personalities. The whispers that should be spread are that teachers are human beings and have feelings just like everybody else. 

In November of 2019, a survey was sent to all of the teachers at Huntington Beach High School.  There were a total of 32 responses, all anonymous. In the beginning, not much was expected to come out of the survey because, as many students wonder, “What can just one student do?” But the results were shocking. 

From the survey, 100% of the responses said that they have heard negative comments about themselves or other teachers at some point from students. Around 82% of the responses said that negative comments have affected them at school and/or home. The responses varied from, “I’m very self-conscious, and knowing that students feel a certain way about me can impact the way that I teach,” to “My self-worth and value is not contingent on comments made by teenagers.” 

From a majority of the responses, it was common to see teachers were feeling disrespected by the students. Even though a small fraction of the teachers say the negative comments do not affect them, all of them agreed that positive comments, in fact, do.

One of the questions, “What would you like students to know?” had many varying opinions. Here are some of the things that teachers want students to know:

We are so privileged to have these amazing people in our lives. Teachers have spent their whole lives dedicated to our success. One teacher responded with, “We WANT to be teachers. We WANT to make a positive change in the world.” They come to school every day prepared to help us achieve our futures, and what has been given back to them generally isn’t what they deserve. Teachers don’t see their students as “just kids”; the success of a student fulfills a teachers’ purpose. As one teacher said, “Why not make our campus a more positive place by spreading positivity?”  In this new year, this new decade, let’s start appreciating the people who give their lives to us.