Do as I Say and Not as I DO!

After watching the movie "Half Nelson" I became more aware of the importance of the student/teacher relationship. The definition that I used to have of role model has also changed for me. Some things I started to think about were; how far between a teacher/student relationship is too far? Why is a strong teacher/student relationship necessary? What are some of the responsibilities of this relationship on the teachers behalf? What constitutes a "good" role model?

A strong student/teacher relationship is not only important but necessary. Think of it, teachers will sometimes see the kids more than their parents do, so a strong relationship needs be to be there. In high school, the classes in which I felt most comfortable to learn in were the classes where the teacher/student relationship was friend like. If a student does not feel like they have a good relationship with the teacher, the student will tune out in the classroom. Having a solid friend in a teacher is a comforting notion, knowing they will be there for you to give you a ride home or something of the like. But where is the line between teacher/student friendship and too friendly.

There's a fine line on which a teacher must walk, but I believe it is one of common sense. A student/teacher relationship goes too far when the line between appropriate and inappropriate has been crossed. In the movie, Ryan Gosling gives his female student a ride home. This is appropriate. He crosses the line in the middle of the movie when he has a verbal argument with his student and calls her a bitch. He also crosses the line when he invites her over to his place because she was locked out of hers. These are common sense issues on which a teacher must act as a teacher and not a friend, he could have paged the mother and dropped her at the hospital. Instead of being a good role model he chose to be more like a friend. In this situation and time period, it is dangerous to have a middle school student go to a teacher's house, let alone a female student. This was not a smart decision on the teacher's part.

As a role model, it is one's responsibility to not only guide the students to be better people but also act as a good person in general. I do not think that the teacher in this movie was a good role model because he was a hypocrite, telling the girl to stay away from her drug dealing brother but at the same time he was using and abusing drugs. I think this is partly why she starting to spend time with her drug dealing brother because he was not being a hypocrite. He was a drug dealer and trying to be a good brother. The teacher was trying to be a good role model but unless he acts like one as well, he won't effect the students in the way he wants.

A good role model could also be someone who dealt with terrible problems and addictions and got through these problems. This person could act as an informant or coach to others and can be someone who has valuable life lessons to teach.