The Natalie Munroe Incident: a Sign of Bigger Problems

Natalie Munroe--the Pennsylvania teacher whose personal blog entries from 2009 and 2010 have made her infamous in 2011--is at the center of an interesting storm.

I don't refer to the legal storm brewing. That's for people who are better informed and more qualified to debate and decide.

I don't question that posting the comments she did on a public blog was probably not the best decision she has ever made. Her belief that her blog would never be seen by students, parents, or school administrators since she only had seven friends following it is naive at best. In her defense, though, she never mentioned any student by name, nor did she ever indicate where she worked. The media took care of that part.

I'll even refrain from making a big issue about the journalistic sensationalism surrounding this story, such as the Associated Press referring to her blog as "profanity-laced ." I'll simply say that I've read her blog entry dated October 27, 2009, and the only profanity I saw there was her description of what her students were saying in her classroom. In her January 21, 2010, post, I counted two profane terms. The comments left by readers--many of whom claim to be her students--contain infinitely more profanity. I find it laughable, too, how selective some websites are about reporting bits and pieces of those comments.

The part of this storm that I find most interesting is how it brings to light what we, as a society, have become.

After reading Munroe's post from October of 2009, I was appalled by what she had to endure as a teacher in just one week. Students swore in her classroom, crafted pornographic images out of paperclips, talked back to her, challenged her authority, and antagonized her. Some of it occurred in her honors class.

The comments left on February 8, 2011, in response to Munroe's post from January of 2010 perfectly illustrated the type of students with whom she was dealing. Comments left on other websites carrying the story of this situation, as well on a handful of Facebook pages either supporting Munroe or demanding her termination, illustrate even further how far we have devolved.

When did it become okay to treat teachers in this manner? Had I participated in any of the behavior she described in her blog when I was in school, I would have been desperately seeking the first bus out of town, rather than deal with my parents' wrath when I got home. When I misbehaved or underperformed in school, I was the one in trouble with my parents, not my teachers. My children will suffer the same "fate." I simply cannot fathom how we have come to a place in time where parents put teachers in their crosshairs before examining their own children's behavior.

A popular on-line comment for people to make is that teachers are paid to educate our children. I agree with that point. However, they are not paid to raise our children. Raising children involves parents stepping outside of their own self-absorbed worlds and taking time to participate in their kids' education, participate in their kids' extracurricular activities, and mold their own offspring into responsible, respectful, driven, productive adults.

I've seen many comments by people purporting to be Munroe's students indignantly claiming that she would have been treated better at school if she had shown her students some respect. How did the current generation that is passing through our schools--and their parents--come to believe that respect is a one-way street that isn't shown to anyone else until it is first showered upon them for simply existing? I routinely see this same expectation being held by those involved with the criminal justice system.

Where is the outrage over students acting the way Munroe described and posting the types of comments they're posting? Where is the outrage over parents doing nothing to curtail their children's misbehavior in school? We seem to be focusing on the wrong problem here.

Is it any wonder that Munroe was frustrated with her job? Can we realistically expect her--or any other teacher, or anyone else working in a high-stress profession that involves dealing with people--to just silently take the daily abuse and keep it pent-up inside? Does the fact that she vented her frustrations in a blog that she naively assumed was only being read by a close circle of friends make her any less of a teacher? What if she had vented those identical thoughts with her friends in a restaurant and was overheard by someone? Would that be any different?

When you vent to your friends about the frustrations in your job, does that make you any less of whatever it is you do for a living?

Two of Munroe's original blog posts. (Caution: there is a lot of nasty profanity in these. There are a few swear words in Munroe's submissions, too.)

The October 27, 2009, post

The January 21, 2010, post