It’s school policy to keep phones out of sight during class, but as a student, how many times have you seen a teacher on their cellular device scolding their students for doing the same? How come they get to use this privilege when they may have work to get done, but we can’t when we have everything finished? How is this fair?

This is just one example of how hypocrisy in schools affects students and their privileges, but it doesn’t stop there. Students are required to test over topics they have learned over the prior weeks. The tests range from multiple choice to written reflections. They are required to be knowledgeable about these topics in order to move forward with a good grade, but sometimes, not even the teacher of said class knows all the answers without a key. The adult who is supposed to be completely knowledgeable over the topic you’re expected to now be an expert on, doesn’t know all the answers. How is this fair to the students who must test over all this?

Students must always come prepared to class with all of their homework done, a report written, a book read, or a project completed, (sometimes multiple of these things per class). They sit down and wait for the teacher to finish their lesson plan or slideshow that should’ve been done prior to the beginning of class. The student gets docked a handful of points for not being completely ready, but the teacher who’s not ready, just gets to apologize to the class and move on. This is such an unfair double standard that gets pushed onto students. 

Lastly, think about the message that teachers spread to all students about inclusivity and being kind to everyone. They tell you to make sure you treat everyone with respect and kindness, but sometimes these exact same teachers have obvious favoritism, and blatant disrespect for some of their students, or don’t seem to treat their class with much kindness. This does not mean every teacher does this, but some do. And these same teachers are expected to reinforce respect, kindness, and inclusivity. 

When students come to school, they expect to learn, grow, and cherish their time. They shouldn’t be expected to live up to standards that their own teachers can’t even live up to. We should all strive for greatness, but make sure we always keep it reasonable and fair.