In search of good manners

I recently got hold of several screenshots of students who were back biting their teachers in a separate group chat. You know, the beauty of online learning is that you are able to capture every bit of it with just one click. Apparently, there has been some miscommunication between the student and the teacher when they asked for a soft copy of their classwork. The teacher, who seemed to be in a mix-up, thought that he was teaching students who signed up for the printed module scheme when he was actually talking to those who opted to go for purely digital.

Because the teacher seemed to be confused, the students in their other chat called him names in vernacular such as "bogo" and the like. The tone of their chat seemed to be like they knew better than their teacher at that specific moment. What went wrong? Well, personally, the online platform gets confusing at times. Even someone who is as into technology as I am, also gets a little bit confused when I make my announcements or post my activities. Let us all remember that we weren't trained for online teaching. The pandemic has forced us to level up our game. Although it is a good argument to say that one year into this situation could have already equipped us with the skills needed to do so, people still make mistakes.

I also questioned the morals of these students. Somehow, I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt but at the back of my mind I can't help but question how these students were raised in their homes. Even if we don't talk about the manners instilled at home, they are supposed to know the basic values as taught in their younger years in basic education. What went wrong? I'd like to think there is a lapse in parenting techniques today or that what is seen on media, especially social media, has caused nothing but harm to the young ones.

Although I feel bad for the teacher regarding how he was treated, there should also be some disciplinary action on the side of the school for tolerating such students. I admit that we are all in a difficult time but we can always adjust to the situation at hand. In other schools, they have become experts in online learning. Ordinary desks have been transformed to makeshift online classrooms complete with equipment bought from the latest online shopping sale.

Will there ever be a resolve to bad student behavior in this pandemic? It is quite a challenge to address that but we can always make the parents or guardians accountable. Where else would we seek help when the tables have turned on the way the students are treating their elders? We can't just purely blame it on the generation gap, but on the gap of the missed opportunities to discipline a child. Too much tolerance leads to entitlement which destroys character.