SINCE when has mental health been more important than a gold medal? ALWAYS!
It is unfortunate that more people haven’t prioritised their mental – and physical – health over their sport, work or any performances.
The recent withdrawals of Simone Biles from some Olympic gymnastics events and Naomi Osaka from the Wimbledon tennis championships highlights the pressure top-level sportspeople can face and yes, some of them can lead fantastic lives travelling the world but not all of them.
It is not a situation I ever faced but there were always nerves before any games and that was only in front of teammates, school mates and occasionally parents in competitions that did not really matter and have long been forgotten.
There is so much that we have to worry about that perhaps we should all stop and ask for help when needed or even when we just want to talk to someone.
Wise choices, Simone and Naomi.
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Slave-driving the teachers
I read with interest and some sadness the editorial “Slave-driving the teachers” (Aug. 6, 2021) and saw so many parallels with my own teaching career. Although as the Panay News says on its banner that it is “The No. 1 Regional Newspaper”, the editorial should be read worldwide.
It would seem that in many countries the situation is the same, “…our teachers…had to organize graduation programs and submit their final grades, then they were tasked to work on their performance evaluation, tons of paperwork and meetings, and enrolment duties.”
The common complain that teachers only work six hours a day for 40 weeks a year has no basis in reality. The majority of their “free time’” and holidays is spent on school work and with the demands of modern children, and their loud parents, it is expected that work will be marked immediately.
I found the idea of overtime pay for the work teachers do well-intentioned but almost amusing as in Australia it would be laughed at. A teacher might go on a four-day camp where they would be on duty from six in the morning till 10 at night and often on call during the night but expected to be on duty the next morning at school.
I remember quite a while ago when my state, Victoria, looked at going from three terms to four terms and one of the reasons given was that the most common time for teachers to be off work with the flu would then be during the holiday period, and it would save the education department money.
My suggestion that I would rather be sick on company time than my holidays was howled down by the Principal.
Although it will seem sexist, the fact that the majority of teachers are female reflects where the pay and conditions have come from on an historical basis. Women’s pay rates have been lower, their jobs less secure and their options for promotion less common.
The same concerns can be seen in other occupations where the majority of workers are female. Equality should improve the overall status of the occupation but it may take a long while.
Remember the concept that “if you pay peanuts you get monkeys” or basically, you cannot expect to attract the best people to teaching until the working conditions and the remuneration improves.
It is only the future of your children that is being reduced due to teachers being overworked. Think about that. (dfitzger@melbpc.org.au)/PN
