I, as an educator and an active social media peruser, have, for innumerable times,
encountered and came across posts squeezing out rants, pains, fears, cries and calls for action as
we are all confronted by what is potentially one of the most daunting threats in the entire history
of human race for the longest time now: the COVID-19. It has introduced enormous amounts of
fear and uncertainty in substantial aspects of the national and global society, including our
schools. Needless to say, this has irreversibly changed our lives forever.

Last night, as I was browsing through a certain social medium, I went past a post of
someone whom I presumed to be a student, calling out for teachers’ sympathy, understanding
and kindness for he narrated an awful personal experience with a ‘cold-hearted teacher’ as he
described him/her in his post. I paused for a while and introspected; I inquired to myself
questions like “Why are there teachers who are apathetic?” “Am I one of them?” “Are we really
running out of good-natured teachers?” “Are teachers being unkind for enforcing their rules and
thereby training their students to become disciplined when it comes to submissions, quality of
work, and performances?”, or “Are they being overly understanding by letting their learners’
shortcomings slide?” queries alike kept me awake for several nights, then after some self-
analysis, I came up to a solid proposition, at least for me.

From my standpoint, I will attest that there are still a lot of good teachers who are trying
their best to understand everyone’s predicaments and to accommodate everybody’s pleas.
Proudly, I am one among them. I give utmost understanding, sympathy and kindness every time
the situation calls for it. However, as much as we want to make it up to every single person, we
also are trying to uphold standards set for and by us, trying to poise between quality and
leniency. It is never our delight, as teachers, to see our students failing or even barely surviving.
Never. If people could only witness how much our hearts break whenever we see students being
left behind, how we would always try our best to rescue them with all our might, I doubt there’d

still be people who will have the audacity to trash the names of their teachers who, for the sake
of quality and fairness, reprimanded them or gave them failing remarks.

It is not apathy. It is not heartlessness. It is not unkindness. It is not mercilessness. Fact of
the matter, it is tough love. It may be unpopular but it is true. It’s us striking the balance between
two equally crucial things in teaching and learning: quality and leniency. Sometimes, teachers
are left with no choice but to let our students learn the hard way. It is our way of helping our dear
students realize, as young as they are, that if there’s one person who is most responsible for their
future, it is them.

By: Cenneleen Viviem L. Ramos | Teacher I | Bataan National High School