A role model is someone we can look up to and our teachers are supposed to be exactly that: someone to confide in when high school gets a little too hard and the gossip is spreading like wildfire. However, there is a big line to draw between a close relationship and a friend.
If I am trusting a teacher, I trust that they won’t spread anything I tell them or use it against me. At the end of the day, there is a difference between gaining a relationship with a student and trying to be their friend. Some teachers have difficulty drawing that line.
No matter how close you may consider a student to you, there is still a certain level of maturity that has to be kept. There are certain taboo topics that you know not to talk about, and certain words you should avoid, like cursing at a student. If you are close to them, you should know where the boundaries are and how to keep them. In the end, they are still a student and you are still a teacher.
Some teachers may tell their students about what they did on a Saturday night when they are supposed to be someone that will guide you to make smart decisions. They may encourage bad behavior from a student when they are supposed to put them on the right path.
Those are actions of a friend instead of being a teacher. According to Merriam-Webster a teacher is “one whose occupation is to instruct.” That may be instructing a lesson for class, or instructing for life. Teachers have been through the same path we have. Going through middle school, high school, and college. They understand what we go through and may have some tips along the way; teaching us to stay away from drama, making smart choices and focusing on school.
However, when they draw the line between a close relationship and a friend, they can’t give us good advice and may end up steering us on the wrong path.
I want someone I can look up to, someone to talk about when things get rough and someone to celebrate my wins with but, I won’t give too much away or say things that I wouldn’t otherwise say to another adult. Teachers can be close to students without drawing a line but nowadays, it’s hard to see where the line can even be drawn.
Some teachers hang out with students outside of school while they are still their student. It is very different to hang out with a teacher when you have graduated and are becoming an adult. However, seeing them on a regular Tuesday afternoon after school can be seen as inappropriate and shows that it is more of a friend relationship than a respectable student-teacher relationship.
We should trust our teachers, be able to tell them our secrets, and know that they will always have our back. At the end of the day, they are our role models and someone to look up to for our life choices but we should always know where to draw our boundaries and when those boundaries shouldn’t be crossed.