THE DEATH OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Respect is the esteem and honor granted to one person by another. It implies a discrimination or partiality when considering the qualities of that person. Respect is something that I don't receive from a few of my students. They do not hold me in high regard. They have no esteem for me, and they never show me or my position as their teacher any honor.

Obedience is taking someone's authority, position, experience, or knowledge into consideration, listening to their advice or commands, and doing what they have suggested or commanded. I have many students who do not obey my demands, either for homework completion or classwork turned in, or follow my suggestions for improved behavior and work habits.

I have been told that if I interact with these students differently, suggesting that if I "handle" them in some way that is "better" or "more effective," I will then receive their respect, or perhaps more simply put, I will then "earn" their respect. I have treated them the same way as I have treated others, yet it is suggested that I am accountable for the respect I fail to receive.

Accountability is dying a slow death. Accountability heaves and groans from the maladies of guilt and litigation; its symptoms are an inability to be burdened by blame; its remedy is to have someone else cured other than the patient; its survivors yearn for a person taking responsibility for their actions.