Teacher’s anti-student rant becomes a cause

Should a high school English teacher have called her students out for being lazy and whiny?

The question is playing out in Pennsylvania, the Associated Press reports, because teacher Natalie Munroe wrote a post on her blog about the kids she has to teach.

“My students are out of control,” Munroe, who has taught 10th, 11th and 12th grades, wrote in one post. “They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying.”

And in another post, Munroe — who is more than eight months pregnant — writes: “Kids! They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS.” She also comes up with a colorful list of comments that she felt should be available on student report cards.

Apparently she wrote the blog anonymously, and didn’t mention the school at which she teaches.

But now that she’s been outed by some kids, she’s been suspended and she’s talking and blogging out loud. “Parents are more trying to be their kids’ friends and less trying to be their parent,” Munroe told the AP. “They (kids) want everything right now. They want it yesterday.”

Schools are in uncharted territory when it comes to disciplining teachers for their online behavior. But increasingly, schools — as in Minnesota — are under pressure to police the online behavior of kids.

Not surprisingly, Munroe has become a cause for generalizations. It’s true, her students might be lazy jerks. But does that mean all students are? I’d like to hear from teachers on this.