It wasn't until my first child was born that I realized how deeply I could care for someone. My love for my family is boundless. Especially considering how vulnerable they are when they enter the world, my natural protectiveness towards my children is entirely understandable.
What might be less understandable is that this protectiveness extends to my students as well. Although not quite to the same degree as my feelings for my own children, my desire to help my students and keep them safe from the dangers of the world is still embedded deeply in the very fiber of my being. I know that I can't protect all of them, but I hurt when they are hurting.
I know that part of this is also due to my "hero complex," the condition where I want to solve everyone's problems even though I don't have the qualifications to do so. I want to be a hero for my students, to give them the chance to be the best possible versions of themselves. When I hear stories of children who encounter terrible trials, painful events, and early deaths, I can feel the pain keenly as if something has punctured my heart.
This is why teachers at Newtown, Connecticut, stood between a crazed gunman and the children in their care. Despite the politics, the bad press, insufficient compensation, and sometimes terrible working conditions, teachers still walk into their classrooms every day in the hopes of making their students' lives better. You might think that I'm being overly dramatic, but I guarantee you that I am not.
Don't mess with my students.
What might be less understandable is that this protectiveness extends to my students as well. Although not quite to the same degree as my feelings for my own children, my desire to help my students and keep them safe from the dangers of the world is still embedded deeply in the very fiber of my being. I know that I can't protect all of them, but I hurt when they are hurting.
I know that part of this is also due to my "hero complex," the condition where I want to solve everyone's problems even though I don't have the qualifications to do so. I want to be a hero for my students, to give them the chance to be the best possible versions of themselves. When I hear stories of children who encounter terrible trials, painful events, and early deaths, I can feel the pain keenly as if something has punctured my heart.
This is why teachers at Newtown, Connecticut, stood between a crazed gunman and the children in their care. Despite the politics, the bad press, insufficient compensation, and sometimes terrible working conditions, teachers still walk into their classrooms every day in the hopes of making their students' lives better. You might think that I'm being overly dramatic, but I guarantee you that I am not.
Don't mess with my students.
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