Of all the off-color, repugnant and (most of the time) ignorant remarks that regularly make their way to the print or online editions of ‘30 Seconds,’ I must admit that those which entail “teacher-bashing,” as it’s come to be known, are by far my least favorite. Face it, one expects ignorance when it comes to politics (especially these days) or matters on a global scale (climate change, war and genocide all spring to mind), but teachers?

In this writer’s humble opinion, those who continually belittle our area educators, simply put, are lacking in education themselves. No offense. Then again, a quick perusal of the spelling (and writing in general) on ‘30 Seconds’ kind of proves my point.

The fact of the matter is this: teaching, as a profession, can be (and many times is) a thankless, discouraging and – sadly – pointless exercise in futility, thanks in part to our younger generations’ penchant for laziness and self-gratification. And it’s that laziness that’s allowed our country to fall behind in most – if not all – subject areas; math, science, you name it. Yet who do people tend to blame, once the cards are on the table?

You guessed it ... teachers.

Personally, I’ve never had much trouble determining exactly why that is, considering many parents – for some unknown reason – think of today’s teachers more as babysitters than as educators. Apparently, teachers nowadays are supposed to raise, discipline and educate 20 to 30 kids for seven to eight hours a day, five days a week and (roughly) forty weeks a year. And yes, I know, they get “all that time off,” including holidays and ... wait for it ... a whole two months in the summer. And that seems like a little much to some people, although they often fail to recognize just how much extra work goes into a good (not to mention great) teacher’s typical work week (or month ... or year).

Again, it can, at times, be a thankless job, or so I’ve heard. Me? I guess I was one of the lucky ones, because I grew up with some of the best teachers a willing student could ever ask for, from Miss Lynn (now Mrs. Hickling), my kindergarten teacher, to Mary Mayo, Don Burke, Dave Kirsch, Mr. Davis, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Curry, Mark Sands, Mrs. Maiurano ... too many to really name here.