Should a teacher embarrass their students in class?
Hi there, this is my first year as a teacher at a high school and would want to be honest about my choices in this career. Also I am the youngest teacher at my school, at 24 years old. The average age the teacher must be to teach at my school is 30, this is due to younger people being biased, so I am quite lucky.
I have a student in my class who never pays attention. Should I make him stand up in front of the class and sing as punishment? Many of the other teachers here have done this to their students when they misbehave in classes, but I find that rather harsh and humiliating.
I was once in a classroom with another teacher and witnessed her punishing an 18 year old girl by making them sing for 15 minutes for not tucking her shirt in properly. The entire time the student looked uncomfortable with her face blushing hard.
I myself as a teacher do not want to embarrass a student, let alone mine. So what should I do to convince my student to pay attention, no matter what I do he never does. Should I make him sing?
Thanks
by 
ANSWERS: 5
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Embarrassing a student can be okay if it's done in a humorous way when everyone can enjoy a snicker (you might try this sometimes - when you get your students to like you, they're more apt to respect you and listen to what you have to say). Embarrassing a student as punishment is humiliation and diminishes his self-confidence. What is he doing that diverts his attention? Is there a medical reason or is it just a lack of respect for you and the subject matter? If it's the latter, explain to him (so the entire class can hear - they might learn something as well) the importance of an education and how nice it would be to graduate with the rest of the class and not be held back for a lack of credits. Also tell him that if he's not going to take the class seriously, he might as well leave - assign him to a study hall until he decides to participate in class.
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Marc Zigon Thank you for your reply and will take it to account. What are your thoughts though on the type of punishment I mentioned where teachers at our schools would makes students sing, like the girl I mentioned.
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"No dark sarcasm, in the classroom, teacher leave those kids alone. Hey Teacher! Leave those kids alone! No, they should not use their position of authority to humiliate students, IMHO.
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No. You should praise in public and chastise in private, whether it be a student, your boss, a friend or anyone. The child should be evaluated for ADD. I don't know where you teach, but in Shelby County they have aides to assist with children that have attention issues. Keep up the good work!
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Praise in public...Reprimand in private.
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I had a teacher who would bully students in class throughout the year. He insisted I must have been cheating when I had the highest grade on an exam (?), so for the next exam I was made to sit up front next to his desk. I still got the highest grade. After that I wasn't bullied as much. That guy taught in the same school for 30 years.
Army Veteran 
Linda Joy 
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