MANILA, Philippines – While people elsewhere are thinking of ways to honor their teachers this September being Teachers’ Month, a 15-year-old male high school student in Caloocan City did the worst thing a student can do to his teacher – he killed her!

The academe is still shocked and outraged at the tragic death of Teodora Soner, a Technology and Livelihood Education teacher at the Manuel L. Quezon High School who was stabbed to death by her student last Sept. 17 over repeated reminders to get a haircut.

Many continue to ponder what pushed the boy to take his teacher’s life. And as authorities investigate the matter, some teachers in other schools have unraveled a series of violent and untoward cases involving students and their teachers and classmates, which have actually been happening inside the classroom all these years.

OUT OF CONTROL

Lilibeth Biscayda, a Mathematics teacher at Fort Bonifacio Elementary School (FBES), says a fellow teacher at Makati High School was sued by a parent over a haircut.

“Binigyan na daw ng pampagupit ng teacher yung bata pero hindi pa rin nagpagupit at sa halip ay dinemanda pa nung magulang kasi pinahiya daw yung anak nila sa klase,” tells Biscayda.

Based on her own experience, Bisycayda observes that students are getting wilder and disrespectful of their teachers these days. “Iba na ngayon ang mga estudyante. Dati pandilatan mo lang ng mata, matatakot na at tatahimik. Pero ngayon talagang bastos ang mga estudyante, walang po at opo, bigla na lang nagsasalita habang nag di-discuss ka, hindi nakikinig, kung anu-anong mga ginagawa. Wala nang galang sa teacher,” points out Biscayda.

She attributes this bad behavior to violent computer games and television shows children are exposed to.

DEEPER PROBLEM

Benjo Basas, chairman of the Teachers Dignity Coalition and a teacher at the Baesa High School in Caloocan, has also encountered fistfights inside his classroom. He believes though that the recent killing was an isolated case. The student is himself a victim, and therefore should not be blamed.

“I would not want to put the blame on anyone or any single institution. This case is a manifestation of a deeper problem in our values-children and parents alike. The victim here is not just Teacher Teody alone, even the suspect himself is a victim. However, things like this could have been prevented if the boy is properly guided. The school, on the other hand, may clarify its policy on prescribed haircut if the DepEd itself had issued guidelines on student discipline and in its no mandatory uniform policy,” explains Basas.

He believes that the Filipino youths are still generally appreciative and respectful of their teachers. “The psychological condition of the boy and the involvement of gang/fraternity are factors to be considered in this incident,” adds Basas.

In the past years though, the violence or cruelty in schools worked the other way around. According to reports, the teachers were the ones rendering harsh punishments on their students. One incident happened in a public high school in San Francisco, Southern Leyte.

“Sa loob ng klase mismo, pinakain ng teacher namin yung mga kaklase ko ng siling labuyo! Parusa ito sa kanila. Naawa talaga ako at nadurog ang puso ko nung nakita ko silang pinakain ng mga sili at pinagtatawanan pa ng mga iba kung kaklase at ng teacher namin. Maingay kasi sila at mababa ang nakuhang score sa test namin,” recalls Roxanne Napillacan, a recent graduate of that school. She said no one dared to report that incident to the principal or their parents for fear of being further punished.

THE ROLE OF PARENT AND TEACHER

In FBES, there was a Grade 1 student who would pick fights and punch his classmates. He also tried to commit suicide by attempting to jump out of the classroom window.

“Buti nalang napiligan ng teacher ang bata na tumalon. Nung pinatawag ko yung nanay nung bata nalaman namin na battered child pala siya. Binubugbog ng nanay,” shares Delia Serrano, principal of FBES.

After counseling the battered child and the parent, Serrano says she talked to the class and asked them to understand their classmate and treat him well.

“Discipline should start at home. The school cannot do everything. We can only do so much with the number of kids in the public school,” points out Serrano. FBES has a 3,527 student population, with 54 students in one classroom.

Meanwhile, Anthony Mateo, president of the Provincial Federation of Parents-Teachers Associations of Rizal, says its not only the parents’ fault when children misbehave or engage in violence, but the teachers’ as well.

“Students spend more time in school. They are our kids’ second parents. The way teachers treat our kids in school is more influential than how parents treat them at home. What we parents failed to impart, must be imparted by the teachers. In many cases, children respect more and follow the teachers than their parents,” reasons Mateo.

TEACHERS, BE CAUTIOUS

At all times though, Basas believes teachers must be very cautious in disciplining their students.

“Teachers should always be reminded of the rights of the children. There is a very thin line between discipline and abuse. Embarrassing punishment or anything that demeans the children could be considered as abuse. In the classroom situation, it’s quite different, the teachers are trained to teach children and the learning outcome is the top consideration- because of this, some teachers unwittingly undermine the consequences of disciplining the children. But I bet, those are done in good intention,” he says.

He calls on the Department of Education to intervene in this matter by teaching the provisions of RA 7610, the Anti-Child Abuse Law, to teachers so they can be properly guided.

He thinks the government should also help in making the school truly a second home for the students and teachers.

“Perhaps this is high time for the DepEd to think of a mechanism that will protect the teachers from physical harm, extortion, intimidation and harassment. The laws have more than enough provisions to protect the rights of the children, but those same laws are being used to abuse the teachers. We are not against it but we need to be protected as well,” ends Basas.

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