«From time to time we receive news of teachers being beaten by students or threatened or otherwise harassed. We are amazed by it, so much so that they gain front pages and reports on the news. But we really shouldn't. What passes as a single action, an exception, is actually the iceberg of a system that we educators are allowing."
This is the outburst of Carola Farci, a teacher in a high school in Cagliari, who tells L'UnioneSarda.it about a misadventure she was the protagonist of. Indeed, victim: «Almost a month ago I was insulted and threatened by a student, in a very serious manner and in several episodes (stuff along the lines of "die bad p..."). If something like this had happened even just two decades ago, I believe the gates of Hades would have opened wide and there would have been a suspension on the spot. Today – the teacher complains – it is not possible to suspend immediately. The class coordinator must be notified, who in turn notifies the Principal, who in turn convenes the class council. In my case, this operation took twenty-five days."
But it's not over. The teacher continues: «Twenty-five days from when the student insulted and threatened me to when the class council was called to take action on the matter, but the same council, moreover, timidly suspended her for only 3 days».
Enough for a series of reflections: «Is this the school we want? Is this the legacy to future generations? Are we really teaching that insulting and threatening not an adult, not a teacher, not a public official, but first of all a person, causes the suspension of a couple of days of school and nothing more? We are sure that all this indulgence, that not knowing how to set limits, that justifying everything always and in any case does not risk creating a society without rules, where the individual is uber alles and beyond his own ego nothing exists, much less a community? Of course, it's the easy way. But is it also the right one?".
«The truth - the teacher's bitter conclusion - is that as teachers we have very few tools at our disposal. But the few we have, to be used effectively, need courageous teachers and managers. And they seem to be in short supply."
