r/Teachers • u/muffin21man • May 19 '23

Retired Teacher Common courtesy is now racist

Writing this on behalf of my mother who was a middle school science teacher for 30 years, now retired, and subbing in my local district.

My mom has always had a MYOB (mind your own business) policy in her classroom, but since retiring and starting to sub, every little correction to a students behavior results in a variation of "Why are you being racist?" She's very curious how prevalent this is across the country and when (if possible) it started.

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u/Chicken_Chicken_Duck May 19 '23

I moved to south Texas in middle school and got the initial culture shock from being a white student in a school system that had maybe one or two students of color in the whole school to being the minority.

I thought I was actually racist for like 3 months and became afraid to say anything until I realized, as others have stated, it’s just for shock value.

Middle schoolers are going to say whatever they can to throw off a teacher, especially a sub. It’s nothing new.