Don't Tread on Me

So be it.
Threaten no more.
To secure peace is
To prepare for war.

It's been some time since my last blog post. No matter. I've been trolling several good blogs, learning from the masters, as they say. This post is a response to one such master blog, at Siobhan Curious' site. Her initial question asked how students address their teachers. I might have gone a bit beyond. So sue me :) My response is below:

I teach at a public high school in the western United States. It’s a pretty informal place, overall. Students use everything from first name, last name, to “Mr.” or “Miss” (I’m convinced they don’t know the difference between “Miss” and “Mrs.”) – we even have one teacher that the students call by his nickname, “Bubba”. Most of my students call me by my last name only, no “Mr.”, and that has never bothered me.

What does bother me is when students pat or touch me on the shoulder. I’m average height for a man, but it seems that somehow my shoulder is an invitation for a hand-rest. I’ve never had a student do so in a threatening manner, but I’ve had several students over the years come to believe that we have such a close relationship that they can clasp my shoulder. It’s almost always my right shoulder, too. Odd behavior.

It’s not only students who do this, but other male colleagues feel this compulsion, too. I suppose it’s some sort of dominance thing, or maybe an act of brotherhood – but it just bothers the hell out of me. When I get the shoulder pat or shoulder squeeze, I usually give back the most evil eye I can compose. By then, sadly, the damage is done; the shoulder’s assaulted; the dominance established. Oh to be 2 inches taller – with an unassailable arm socket!

Student/teacher contact is a "touchy" situation, at least at my level. I'm sure it's no big deal to get a hug as an elementary teacher - I reserved hugs for my students on graduation days. What are your stories?

So be it, settle the score.

Touch me again for the words that you will hear evermore . . .

Don't tread on me!