Raising Respect of Teachers

In a Room For Debate session, Micheal J. Petrilli states that making a teacher's job more attractive will in turn raise the status of the occupation, and therefore the number of people making a career out of it. He proposes accelerated pay raises and more ways to increase salary, but something far more simple would help just as much. If teachers would simply avoid making negative comments on their profession, especially to their students, the reputation of low pay, terrible benefits, and absence of notable pay raises will slowly fade away, and if said teachers would also highlight the positives of their profession, such a school breaks off and rather stable positions, the public view of teaching would exponentially increase. After all, the main reason most people avoid the profession is the low pay, and who would not want so much time off with their family? Some may say that teachers rarely talk bad about their job, at least not to their students. However, nearly every year I personally have heard at least one teacher mention their meager salary. Moreover, does it not take one-hundred good words to negate one bad in the mind of man? Thinking toward the future, the students will soon be entering the job market. Therefore, with so many negative comments told to the sponge-like minds will stick with them, thus influencing the decisions of many to avoid teaching, as the negative comments have made a "teaching aversion."