1 minute read
AN INVISIBLE LINE
THE Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 49 encourages teaching personnel to “avoid relationships, interaction, communication, including following social media with learners outside of the school setting, except if they are relatives.” This was issued on November 2, 2022, in prevention of criminal cases among teachers and students occurring.
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, at the time, emphasized the importance of drawing a line between teachers and students. However, that was not the case for my class.
Advertisement
On October 28, 2022, the senior high school intramurals were held. In this event, each strand had a dance performance that lasts for 10 minutes. Every strand adviser was there, but the ABM’s.
During the weeks of preparation for booths, performances, and programs– school works and activities were maintained. Thus, many students from my strand requested deadline extensions and rescheduling of multiple activities. The is-
Commentary
BREATHE in. Breathe out. The people were free.
Breathe in. Breathe out. The people are free.
Breathe in. Breathe out. There was no war.
sue did not start there.
For one activity, where my class had developed grades lower than we had anticipated, we inquired our teacher regarding rubrics, for she did not give onein subtle hopes of knowing where we can improve and where we went wrong. Our teacher did not take it kindly.
You don’t hear stories like this often– where a simple question leads to a teacher threatening her students and forcibly making them sign a contract, one that requires the students to silence themselves. This same contract stopped my classmates and me from having food when the school canteen was closed. This same contract stopped us from reaching out to our family- just because the document existed. This same contract required us to keep all that had happened to us as a class to ourselves–so that the teacher’s name would be clear. This same contract called us evil.
I was absent that day— so not until this moment, everyone had stayed quiet. And it was all because a teacher crossed the line.
King of kings
King David Manghi
