Teachers who kill their student’s dreams & destroy destinies

Teachers nurture dreams; they can also kill them

Teachers are good, they shape the destiny of their students. They birth dreams and nurture talent.

But teachers can also kill dreams and kill destinies.

If there’s an area the devil has put his foothold, it is in schools.

Think about the unfortunate things that happen in schools – children get introduced to all manner of evil.

Some parents choose to put their children through faith-based institutions for this reason.

Let me share some experiences I have witnessed of teachers trying to destroy the destinies of their children so that as a parent you can exercise caution.

We need to understand that teachers are human, and good and bad teachers exist. But the system should be able to sift bad teachers and dream killers and leave teachers who have the calling.

Teachers who made fun of students instead of helping them

When I was in Primary school, some teachers would form groups then start calling girls who were showing signs of puberty to ridicule them.

Others, after knowing that some students came from poor backgrounds, would call students from families that could not afford meals, ask them if they ate, then if they said no, start making fun of them.

Students who could not afford lunch

There were few students in our class who could not get three meals a day. Even at lunchtime, they had to get a share from classmates.

Some could not even borrow, and I remember there was a lady who would stay alone during lunch, without food and without going out.

Being in the village, few students knew that some families struggled to find food and so the thought of sharing your food was highly discouraged.

Furthermore, some gluttonous students would eat their food then borrow their friends’, so parents often warned against sharing food!

Teachers who kept bright students’ books for witchcraft

Apart from teachers gossiping about their students and exposing them to ridicule in front of other teachers, there were other things that used to happen.

Some teachers would hide bright students’ books and report cards then take them to witch doctors.

Word was that some of the teachers were witches. Then these students would start refusing school and perform poorly in exams.

Male teachers sleeping with underage girls

Then there were the male teachers who used to sleep with their students. Underage school children. This mainly affected families that hired teachers for extra tuition at night or on weekends.

I remember several students in our class had such arrangements. Their parents wanted to give the best to their daughters. However, this close proximity would often escalate to an illicit affair.

The girls would start making frequent visits to the office, and before you know it, a Standard Six girl is pregnant!

Three girls were impregnated by teachers, and their parents did nothing.

Again, being a village girl, I never thought much about these things.

But how does a grown-up teacher look at a 12-year-old and desire to have carnal knowledge of them?

The girls who were affected did not go far with their education.

Here is an article to help survivors of sexual assault and mechanisms to protect underage girls from sexual predators: What to do after rape

Now, away from the Primary school shenanigans, I have been a parent and have had some troubling experiences.

I will not talk about some of the misleading information some teachers give children because I go through all of my son’s books and exam sheets.

Teachers who are careless with words

However, I will talk about teachers who are careless with their words.

Have you heard a teacher say that your child cannot make it in a certain field of their interest, even before they interact with them? Have you heard a teacher call your child bad names?

Well, you have reason to be worried because teachers have authority over your children, and their words have life.

Teachers who curse their students

It matters what you say to a child because these words stay in their minds too.

Recently the school called me to discuss the mandatory school uniform replacement that my son had raised with the Principal. Agreed and moved on. About the KES 6,000 payment I was supposed to pay for it even though he has been getting a new uniform every year, so he did not need it this time.

The class teacher had said I must pay even if he does not need it. And it was added to the school fees. When they called and I said my son did not need it, the teacher said he was not aware and blatantly told my son: “You are careless!”

These words pierced my heart because I have been very careful with the words I use on children, knowing the impact of words.

I asked the teacher why he was using such language with a student, he said if he did not raise the issue with him, he is careless. I told him that he should not use such language on students, and he hung up.

Well, I don’t know what else they have called him or other students, but teachers are very fond of using idle words on students, such as;

“You are useless”

“You are very stupid”

“You will amount to nothing”

“You will go nowhere”

In short, bad teachers put themselves in the position of God and decide what your child will become.

Even the dumbest child needs encouragement.

It is very wrong for teachers to use such words on children. This is how you find a child behaving in a certain way that you did not raise them.

Words have power; if you don’t cancel them they will take root

Words have power, and words are alive.

If you are a bad teacher, check how you handle your negative emotions around people’s children.

If you are a good teacher, may you be rewarded.

And if you are a parent, know that there are bad teachers (and other caregivers) who can’t restrain themselves from cursing your child.

You can cancel those negative words daily so they don’t affect their lives.

Have you met teachers from hell? Share your experience in the comments section.