Definitely, today’s students are not cold in the eyes …
We often imagine that a CPE or a supervisor, in a college or a high school, sees everything from a day. And it is not completely false. Between delays to justify, conflicts in the courtyard to manage, exclusions of courses or students in distress, the day can quickly look like an obstacle course. But what is less suspected is how some sentences, launched the air of nothing by the students, can use the nerves more than the permanent hubbin or the reports to be written in an emergency. CPE for several years, Laura*, 37 years old, alias @Mme_la.cpe on social networks, experiences it every day. And among all that she hears in the corridors, a sentence in particular exasperates it to the highest point.
“What annoys me is when I hear a student to answer ‘yeah it’s good’ to a teacher, an AESH, a supervisor or even to me. By saying that, he completely ignores the adult’s request in front of him and even sends him for a walk, and it always shocks me as much. Because often, the requests are legitimate. For example ‘remove your cap please’ or ‘go to class, it’s time’, entrusted us with the CPE which exercises in a college in Ile-de-France. And that’s not all …
Nowadays, it is true and she admits it by herself, the students are much more “cash” than in a certain time. “When they want to say something, they will say it, they will not go through four paths. Afterwards, it depends of course on the personalities of each other, but there are students who are very cash and they are not embarrassed”, concludes our interlocutor.
In any case, faced with this type of behavior, for educational staff, it requires a certain composure, hindsight and a good dose of patience. Keeping calm, putting a setting without getting away, while maintaining the dialogue is a balance that you have to be able to find every day.
*The person’s first name has been changed to protect their anonymity.