Teacher, you get an F

WARNING: This blog contains strong opinions that may offend. Apologies if I inadvertently insult anyone but that was never my intention.

I am very pedantic when it comes to spelling, punctuation and grammar. What you don't know, dear reader, is that whenever I compose these tirades that I like to call blogs I always use the spell-check function on Microsoft Word just to make sure I spell certain words or even sentences correctly.
This is not to say that my spelling, punctuation and grammar is always perfect - I do make mistakes once in a while - but I always try to ensure that I am spot on.
But you will never, I repeat NEVER catch me using words incorrectly. No offence to anyone but I find it astonishing that some people cannot tell the difference between some words that sound alike but have different meanings. Take the words 'allowed' and 'aloud' as an example. They are not the same word, people. Same with the words 'there', 'they're' and 'their'. I shake my head at the number of times I catch someone using those three words in the wrong context - and that's just newspaper and internet reporters.
Unless you're sending out an SMS on your phone or an informal message to your friends or family on some social networking website of your choice you really have no excuse to be mixing those words up on a frequent basis.

Now, whenever I send SMS messages I do abbreviate some words and expressions (ie: later written as 'l8er', because written as 'coz', seriously as 'srsly') just to save time and space. But that said, I will never allow any SMS-style spelling get in the way of my real spelling ability. Could you just imagine how my blogs would look if that were the case? There would be a decided lack of vowels and numbers slotted in the wrong areas.

A story I read today in the paper made me cringe. If you've read some of my past blogs, I've ranted that some kids these days are ill-mannered and disrespectful, had irresponsible parents and that schools have gone soft and stupid on them.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse I read today that some school teachers have been caught using SMS-style spelling and grammatical errors when filling out school reports, report cards and lesson plans. Some parents also complained that their childrens' teachers were lacklustre and languid in their approach to their profession, taught incorrect information and provided children with 'word lists' to study that were littered with spelling errors.
One teacher griped claimed that many graduate teachers who lacked a basic understanding of grammar, spelling and punctuation only have themselves to blame due to their lackadaisical approach to their own schooling. She added that she was concerned for the future of her childrens' learning as long as teachers like these existed.
The situation is so dire that the federal government plans to give current teachers specialist training in which they will be mentored by more experienced teachers.

I have always said that I am glad I was a schoolkid years ago rather than now. It was bad enough being bullied back then and having to put up with a few idiot teachers whose mind-numbing and incoherent methods prevented me from realising my full schoolwork potential. But at least I still finished in one piece with my sanity mostly intact and with decent, if not outstanding grades.
Today, bullying has escalated to include cyber-bullying and assaults with deadly weapons, more kids are skipping class, schools are becoming more lax and ridiculous with their rules and now some teachers are getting dumber. Seriously, SMS-style spelling and grammatical errors? School reports, lesson plans and report cards filled with errors? A lax approach to their profession? Wow, just wow. Are you telling me that there are people out there educating the youth of our nation who can't even form simple sentences without screwing up!? The thought of it makes me sick.

Seriously, if I had a kid and he/she brought home a bad report card that was full of spelling and grammatical errors from their teacher I would be livid. Not just from the kid's lack of effort in class but from his/her teacher's lack of effort in their profession. I would immediately report the teacher and push for them to be sacked and sent back to school. Call me overdramatic but that's just how I feel. I would be absolutely disgusted if I knew my children were being taught by some incompetent imbecile who spells simple words with numbers inserted to substitute at least two letters in that word.

To you teachers out there who make these mistakes, do you review what you've written before they get sent out to students and their parents? Did excessive use of your electronic devices scramble your brain cells to the point that you do not remember the original spelling of certain words or are you so dumb that you cannot seem to differentiate between school reports and text messages sent to friends? Your job is to teach these kids, people! If you have lost your ability to spell simple words correctly and COMPLETELY and to formulate sentences without messing up then perhaps it's time to look for a new line of work. How do you expect to be taken seriously when angry parents are howling for your dismissal?

Let's suppose your child was misbehaving in class and you got a letter from their teacher expressing their concern. How would you react if the letter looked like this?

Dear *insert name here*

*Insert child's name here* wuz l8 4 class 2day an wuz actin lyk a tool so I snt him hom erly. Sry 4 da trouble.  

This is a serious problem, people. If the teachers in our schools can't even do their jobs to the best of their ability then the children of today and maybe even the future are in serious jeopardy. Luckily, the government have seen this problem and are taking steps to fix it, which I am all for. You can fix the school and put up new rules, regulations and systems to raise students' performances but what's the point if their teachers can't do their part?
Let's keep the SMS-style spelling and real spelling separate. And let's learn how to use words and formulate sentences the correct way. Teachers back when I was a kid were able to, there's no reason why some of you teachers today shouldn't be able to do the same.