First: I am not a public school teacher. I have in the past taught in chareidi schools, consulted in public schools, catholic schools, M.O schools, and other Jewish schools. I’ve supervised educational staff working in small Jewish communities. And tell me, please. Does a public elementary school in, say, rural Nebraska in the middle of the bible belt have a gang problem? Because you said it did by tarring all with the same brush.
Next, I am not a hired union pr thug – in fact I will state very clearly for the record that my politics are conservative and I am not a fan of unions in general and teachers unions in particular.
I’m writing what I know and have seen in this forum davka because I’d rather share it with people who are nogeah b’dovor and might recognize the reality – and then do something about it (not loshon horah, not only because I didn’t identify what schools, when or where, but also because it is given over in a spirit of tikun) than make a mockery of the whole yeshiva system befarhesia, as you, Grandmaster, do of the public system. There are many excellent yeshivos, but there are also too many which desperately need guidance, chizuk, and tikun.
Next, I mirrored your comments. You denigrated a system serving a population of 330 million in the US alone, by referencing serious problems that apply to a small fraction of the schools in the US. I gave examples from what I know. I stood at the desk of the kid who was terrified, and watched him shrink away from me in dread when I asked him to answer a question on the board. This particular incident happened 21 years ago, but I still remember his name and his face, the haunted eyes and the bent glasses, and his unfortunate story which I learned from other teachers who had taught him before. How dare you call his pain sheker!
I also know that the very best, most respectful, most cheindik student I ever encountered was at the same school. He wasn’t a genius, but he always worked hard, always was the first to help, always treated his teachers and his peers with respect, and always had a smile on his face. I know his parents, and he is cut from the wonderful cloth that represents all that is beautiful about Chareidi communities.
Metro, you are absolutely right about my use of the word systemic. I was writing so fast that I used a word I was thinking of to describe the problems yeshivos must address (systemic) instead of one describing this boy’s modus operandi (systematic). Thank you for the correction. By the way, To show you and any other reader that I’m not saying the whole system is completely rotten, the bochur who was bullying eventually got older and wiser, changed his behavior, and became a real ben torah. Someone got through to him within the yeshiva world. Sorry for the cadence of my words, if it was distracting. I tend to write that way when I’m passionate about the subject.
Finally, I don’t intend to conflate my discussion about being am hanivchar with criticism of some problems in the yeshiva world.
I may not cause you to change your mind, and that is your prerogative, grandmaster. But perhaps there are those reading who might look at the discussion as an opportunity to reflect on what the eibishter expects of us AS an am hanivchar, rather than using the term as a mark of aristocracy.
You have demonstrated a complete inability to address a single issue I raised by referencing personal experience, statistics, or the experience of someone else who has worked in the system. You insist on ad hominem accusations of lying. Do you even get the point of a coffee room like this?