Speak Up! - View Question #445

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Question: If a teacher yells at you for something you didn't do, do you have the right to yell back?

Answer: If a teacher yells at you, whether you did something that deserves yelling at or not, you are not breaking any laws if you yell back. However, you might be breaking some very important rules:

1) the social rules for your actions and

2) the school's conduct rules.

All societies have social rules. In our country we eat with forks and spoons, which is a social rule. People who do not follow social rules are frowned upon and likely to lose standing (not being promoted for jobs or considered for class president) because of their unwillingness to follow social rules.

In addition, schools, companies and organizations often have written conduct rules that are designed to promote good relationships and preserve order. Most school and company handbooks list rules that prohibit raising your voice or 'talking back' to your teacher or a person in authority. If you yell back at a teacher, you're likely to be violating the school's rule against yelling at teachers. This could result in disciplinary action against you - a written warning, detention or worse.

So you should think hard before you yell back to a teacher or adult in authority. Yelling is often a sign of being out of control. If you yell back, you would be acting similarly out of control. Even if you weren't facing discipline for yelling back, you would still be looked at better for handling your anger by ignoring someone yelling at you.


Comments
1 thru 5 of 19 comments
On 04/05/09
chriss from VT said:
Let me explain something to all concerned parents from another. My son has been bullied all year. My son and all the other children are YELLED at day to day. The teacher either raises her voice or yells and embarreses the children. WONDER WHY MY SON IS BEING BULLIED by the child in his class? Anyhow, the superintendent is involved and he said that no teacher has the right to yell at any child unless they have to yell there name if they are in danger of hurting themselves or others. Get the higher up involved and document everything.Your childneeds to feel safe not come home with headache
On 06/11/08
James from IN said:

ive got a new teacher and i know shes acts like a demon she sream at u for noyhing all im going to do is mind my buisness and not get in her way

On 06/06/08
john from NJ said:
our teacher threw my desk well, she didnt throw it she pushed it but whatever. she screams and has huge fits if someone is humming. she goes crazy!!!
On 03/15/08
Jenna from CO said:
My teacher yells at our class all the time... She doesn't yell in a nice way, like a mom yelling at her child. She will start screaming at us and it gets really annoying. I think that teachers should only yell at at their class if they are being loud. Thank You.
On 05/05/06
love from ID said:
I don't think that a teacher needs to be in a childs face yelling .If the teacher wants respect then they should teach it you don't have to yell in a childs face to get your point across if you respect them and they will respect you back and their wouldn't be any problems.And thier are some good teachers and bad ones every teacher doesn't tell the truth about everything we need to learn to listen to our children more because they go thur a lot and not only with thier peers we have some teachers that give them a hard time to.
1 thru 5 of 19 comments



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