Teachers

[kimchuck]

I think teachers should be educated on phobias. Especially this one.I'm 25 now, but I remember a horrible experience I had in grade three. I was severe emet, and nobody knew what was wrong with me. One kid did not feel well and he told the teacher before we all headed to music class. The class left and I stayed behind in my desk. My teacher was really rude, telling me to get out of the room. I started to cry and soon after, a classmate came back to the room and said this kid had v*ed in the hall. She still tried to get me to go out of the class room so she could deal with the v* situation. I was pretty much screaming for her to not make me go. She called the counsellor and the counsellor came to the room to try to coaxe me out of the room with candy, and told me she would take me straight to the office. That is exactly what I didnt want because I would have had to go in the hallway. She ended up carrying me to the office as I screamed and kicked, closed my eyes and held my breath. They called my mom and ended up having a meeting with my parents, accusing them of beating me! I'm still so angy at all those teachers, coaxing me with CANDY??? Anyways, for all of you that have kids who you fear that will develop the same problem, watch out for heartless teachers.[img]smileys/smilies_07.gif[/img]Kim

[purpleteacher]

I am sorry to hear you had such a negative experience, but please don't judge us all based on your experiences. My teachers knew of my phobia when I was in elementary school and didn't make a big deal of it. They helped me work through the moment and then were able to help me get back to learning. In college as a psych major, I got *teased*, but I also put my phobia out there and openly discussed it as a way to help me deal with it (so, I had it coming and I am stronger for it!).


Teachers already have so much on their shoulders to begin with... Teachers do more than educate, we mentor and have the future of society on our shoulders! I, for one, acknoweldge phobias when they come up while I'm teaching --- but I don't focus on them because there isn't the physical time to extensively address them in the classroom when the state has mandated how your minutes of instruction time are to be used.


I teach and my background is in psychology, so I do know quite a bit about them (not to mention dealing with some of them myself). One of the hardest things is learning how adequately address the phobia in the classroom setting without completely singling out a student or making special provisions.


Remember though, teachers barely have enough time to teach social skills now because social skills aren't "tested by the state". Tolerance and acceptance of differences is something that needs to be taught more --- character development lacks in many curriculms now too.


Another thing - if you believe that educating students and teachers about phobias is soimportant, thenI encourage you to actively pursue this with your local school board/ district. Make your concerns known and do something positive with your frustrations instead of just complaining about the lack of knowledge teachers might have (you aren't completely surewho knows what about what topics and just do not have a place to express their knowledge- meaning, ever teacher and classroomcircumstance is very different)about this subject matter. Take action! Community involvement is critical in the education system of today and we need more of it. Take a stand and speak out - hopefully you can find a receptive audience.Edited by: purpleteacher

[kimchuck]

I'm sorry if my post was offensive. I didn't intend for it to be a personal attack.I was just very dissapointed that nobody even acknowledged the fact that maybe the v* in the hallway was what bothered me, and that they blamed my parents of abuse. I am a psych major as well, and I know it is tough to acknowledge every problem in every discipline. I am also generalizing to a situation that I will never forget. We can get rid of the post if you like?


Anyways I'll do my best in my community to make it known.


It's hard being a new member and not knowing what will bother others. I also have to learn to not take this personally as well.

[californiagirl]

What I can add is: when I was in school, I wish I had the teachers on this site as my teachers!!! Thay all understand emet and know what good hygiene in a classroom is[img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]

[juliet]

I've had mixed experiences. I've never told a teacher I'm emetophobic (not that I don't trust any of them--it just seems like TMI), but I had to tell a few about my panic disorder to explain incidents of leaving or skipping class. They were cool about it--they discussed it with me privately, did their best to understand my need to leave class, and haven't treated me "differently" since.


But elementary school, where my phobia first surfaced, was hell. I didn't know as much about my condition as I do now, so I had no way to articulate myself to teachers, and they had no choice but to misunderstand me when I acted strangely in v* situations.


I believe it would be helpful, especially to younger students who can't explain theirdisorders themselves, for teachers toknow at least about the most common phobias (including, of course, emetophobia) to spare both themselves and their students the awkwardness of misunderstanding.If elementary schools bend over backwardsforkids with disabilities, peanut allergies, domestic violence issues, etc, why do they seem to brush off kids with phobias in their most crucial years of development? I think I echo a lot of you when I say a little help and understanding in my childhood would've made things very different today.Edited by: juliet

[ontariogirl]

what you put down juliet I felt the same way. My phobia surfaced in public school but back then there was no emetophobia, no one knew or even heard of this phobia at all. I think now it is totally different. Phobia's along with panic attacks are basically more common, every one has some kind of phobia. I feel if students have this phobia to come out and tell the teachers, at least they will get a sense of what the student may go through. My youngest son is in public school and when I found out I have this phobia 7 years ago I let the school know about me. For student teacher meetings it was done over the phone. I wasn't embarrassed about it at all, as long as they knew how I am I felt better.


I became friends with my son's teacher. She became so frustrated with the school system that she wanted to quit but didn't. There is so much to do with little time. Here in Ontario there have been teacherswho walk out on strike because of our governement. So I can see how teachers may become angry.
I think you should take purpleteacher advice stand up and talk about this phobia, let the school boards and teachers know. If I knew that I had this phobia in Grade 5 and the teachers knew about it I truly think my public school days would have been more better than it was. No more freaking out in front of other students, just nodding to the teacher that I am anxious and leave for the washroom.[img]smileys/smilies_11.gif[/img]
My advice talk to school boards, schools and teachers. I would!

[s_snow]

I wish that purple teacher is my teacher. [img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]


My math teacher dont understand when someone feel bad... i dont know why...

[purpleteacher]

I didn't find out there was a name for my phobia until college, I think. My teachers knew I was scared of V* because I ran out of the classroom once, to my original classroom because we had"switch subjects",(I was in 5th grade)when a kid got sick and totally lost my cool. The teacher just helped me calm down and let me stay until the situation could be cleaned up.


The irony is that when I'm subbing, I am very upfront about how I don't tolerate V* in my classroom. I have a plan of action in case it happens in my classroom - I know EXACTLY who to call, where to take my kids, and how to handle the situation in a professional manner (so I can mentally lose it AFTER the students are gone, instead of while they are still in my care). I also know the nurses where I teach and some of them I have gotten to know VERY WELL [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]!


I am very proactive about reminding kids to cover their mouth/ nose when they sneeze or cough. I remind them to wash their hands and or use sanitzer when it is available (not all schools allow for it!!! seriously... not all in my district all for it in the rooms). I have asked other teachers for cleaning supplies and one teacher even let me spray Lysol in my room because I told her I had some sick children who were unable to go home because of their parents.


Teachers really don't like being sick because they can't do their jobs. The knowledge of how viruses and illnesses spread is out there and good teachers are teaching students how to be healthy.

[happyteacher]

I became friends with my son's teacher. She became so frustrated with the school system that she wanted to quit but didn't. There is so much to do with little time. Here in Ontario there have been teacherswho walk out on strike because of our governement. So I can see how teachers may become angry.

Teachers really have no right to be "angry" with students for any reason. Yes, I am a little more sensitive to the symptoms of panic and anxiety, however, most of my collegues are as well. The Teacher's College's in Ontario educate us to look at the whole student and to meet all of their needs, not just academic ones.


As a whole we don't have it that bad, it just depends how you look at it. I am a teacher in Toronto, the most multicultural city in North America. In my school alone we have students from 85 different countries, all with their own life experiences and backgrounds to consider. You just have to get to know the studentsand become sensitive to any strange behaviours. The teachers that love teaching, teach and the other ones complain about petty things!


happyteacher

[s_snow]

happyteacher I wish you are my teacher [img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]


teachers, when your student is sick do you let him to go to toilet to wash his face a little or drink water? or you dont let him?

[junglemonkey]

I had really, really bad experiences in school with panic attacks and my teachers. They made fun of me, ridiculed me in class,talked about it behind my back, tried to get me to change my career, said I would never pass interviews and succeed in what I wanted to do... My school was intensely academic and tended to see us as walking exam certificates and generally didn't give a crap about you as long as you achieved well. In fact, they generally didn't give a crap about you as a person at all.


At the end of the year I wrote a letter explaining what had happened and my views on the situation and the reply was just dire. Some people will just never understand and never change.


Teachers should know about these sorts of things and be able to deal with them considering the number of young people who suffer with these conditions but unfortunately a lot of the time it doesn't happen.

[samara's on tv]

When I was in school every year from Kindergarten to 8th grade there was ALWAYS a kid that V*ed in the class. I freaked out MAJORLY when this happened, but I was young and I couldn't really EXPLAIN why I freaked out I just did. I remember this one time we were seated at tables and the girl behind me (Who was my friend at the time) Got up and V*ed and some of it splattered onto my chair. I got up and freaked out and would not sit back in that chair, or anywhere near the V*. The teacher get mad at me but I refused to sit back there.


Now I know it would be helpful for teachers to know about this phobia because it seems more common then I thought. I'm not saying they should have EXTENSIVE knowledge of it, just know that it exists and next time that something like that should happen they can ask the kid, "Are you afraid of the V*" or something to that extent.


~Monica

[happyteacher]

I am so sorry that you all had such terrible experiences with your teachers. I would never treat anyone like that. Now in Canada, NO teacher would get away with this behaviour because the parents would be don't your throat. Things have changed from even 10 years ago.


My school is a Grade 7-8 school (12 and 13 year olds). The students are from a lower socio-economic status and come to school with all kinds of baggage. What kind of a human being would I be if ignored or ridiculed my students if they were showing symptoms of distress? What if it was serious? This is a VERY impressionable age and I would be scarring them for life, not setting them up for success like I'm supposed to.


I have already had to callthe Children's AidSociety to report abuse and neglect for some students. I have seen anxiety in many forms: panic attacks, eating disorders and even girls cutting themselves. It's awful. What I always ask myself when students act out is - Is there something going on at home that is causing this behaviour?


Teacher don't necessarily need to know about this particular phobia because all phobias are different and equally as frightening. They just need to be aware and sensitive to anxiety based behaviours.


happyteacher


Edited by: happyteacher