# Why I hate my students **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 1, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227 "2000-07-01T01:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/81 "2013-05-09T04:52:01Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > This thread is 13 years old. That’s such a difficult age. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/82 "2013-05-09T06:10:53Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > This thread is 13 years old. Just think, in a few short years it will be off to college! _sigh_ They grow up so fast, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/83 "2013-05-09T13:13:26Z")
> [@DandyDo](#): > > [snip] Plus, they are too damn busy texting and sending me threatening emails to learn anything. [snip] Maybe they are pissed at you because your only contributions to their lives are about conversations that are 5 to 13 years old. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/84 "2013-05-09T13:32:43Z")
I like it when new people resurrect some of these old threads. It’s like peering into the past. I see all these usernames and I realize that I recognize so few of them. So many Dopers come and gone, banned, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/85 "2013-05-09T13:39:31Z")
It was a bit surprising to see this thread pop up. I knew it had to be a zombie because no way would I have passed up an OP like that. But it _does_ make you wonder what **DandyDo** was searching for when he found it. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/86 "2013-05-09T13:46:53Z")
> [@DandyDo](#): > > Is this their high scools’ fault or their damn addiction to technology? In my case, I lay blame on the high scool. I got awesome grades in high scool, AP classes, pretty much equal focus on reading/science/math/history. I picked up everything they put down. Got into college, a damned good one thanks to my grades, and wrapped up my freshman year on academic probation. My high school was geared more toward getting kids through graduation, maybe into a technical school if they had some real promise. What they didn’t teach, in any class, was critical thought. I’d never even heard of such a thing. In fact, I remember thinking how weird it was hearing other people ask “Why do you think/say that?” so much. It was really annoyoing. Eventually I figured it out though. By the time I was taking my oral exams as a senior I was getting nods from professors who surely must have wished death on me more than once during my first year. Oh…and I never stole work or begged favors, I just wasn’t up to the task of thinking about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/87 "2013-05-09T14:28:41Z")
Wouldn’t it be funny if \*\*DandyDo \*\*was one of \*\*light strand’s \*\*former students? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/88 "2013-05-09T14:53:06Z")
> [@DandyDo](#): > > Is this their high scools’ fault or their damn addiction to technology? > [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > In my case, I lay blame on the high **scool**. I got awesome grades in high **scool** , AP classes, pretty much equal focus on reading/science/math/history. I picked up everything they put down. Got into college, a damned good one thanks to my grades, and wrapped up my freshman year on academic probation. My high **school** was geared more toward getting kids through graduation, maybe into a technical school if they had some real promise. What they didn’t teach, in any class, was critical thought. I’d never even heard of such a thing. In fact, I remember thinking how weird it was hearing other people ask “Why do you think/say that?” so much. It was really annoyoing. Eventually I figured it out though. By the time I was taking my oral exams as a senior I was getting nods from professors who surely must have wished death on me more than once during my first year. > > Oh…and I never stole work or begged favors, I just wasn’t up to the task of thinking about anything. Missed one. Apparently your brain just couldn’t let you do it three times. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/89 "2013-05-09T14:57:45Z")
I hope for the sake of **light strand** ’s career she remains anonymous. It’s possible to be both right and still unprofessional, football players do it all the time. Can’t be that many microbiology professors in any area your mention you live in some in offhand comment made in Cafe Society or some such. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/90 "2013-05-09T15:04:58Z")
If nothing has happened in 13 years, it’s probably not going to. Of course we would need **light strand** to come back and tell us that and I don’t think she’s been around in awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/91 "2013-05-09T15:11:38Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > If nothing has happened in 13 years, it’s probably not going to. Of course we would need **light strand** to come back and tell us that and I don’t think she’s been around in awhile. Wow, shit. Why isn’t this tread closed? Still, it was funny to read a semi immature rant from a teacher complaining of immaturity from her students. And now we have **DandyDo**. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/92 "2013-05-09T15:19:30Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Well, I was going to cut you some slack, because I figured you were a TA, working for your master’s and being forced to teach so you could stick to your studies, but since you added that you’re a professor: > > Why the _ **fuck** _ are you a teacher if you hate your students so much? Is it not enough that you are grinding your own soul into a sticky paste by doing something you obviously hate? Do you really need to compound that tragedy by inflicting such venomnous attitudes on your students? > > As a professor, your primary obligation is to educate. Not research your favorite pet project, not publish an incestuous, colleague butt-rimming, ass kissing paper, not lovingly felch a foundation chair for more grant money, but _ **teach** _. > > If your students don’t have a grasp of personal responsibility or academic tenacity, you’ve got a golden chance to make it plain what their obligations are and what it takes to make the grade in your class. The fact that they’re coming up to you in the middle of the term unclear about these things means that _you_ were the one who missed the first boat, not them. > > Maybe if you adhered to the principles of teaching, your students wouldn’t be pulling this crap. There are metric tons of people out there who would kill and maim for a faculty position. Why not give them a chance to fulfill their dreams and stop damaging yourself and your students? She’s not a teacher. She’s a professor. It’s a world of difference in the conditions. Students should come to her already prepared to learn with study skills. Molecular pathogensis is not high school biology and the students shouldn’t be pulling this crap. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/93 "2013-05-09T15:29:00Z")
> [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > I’ll give you a 7.5: very interesting. > > Can’t wait until finals. I think you have good ranting potential. Although I have to point out that college students, most likely, are not prepubescent. Just thought I’d let you know. 🙂 > Oh yeah, since this is the pit, fuck off! > (I don’t normally do this, but had to because of Lexi. ;)) Oh God. Finals. When I taught college Finals were SO depressing. That was when you faced the horror of reality full in the face that the majority of your students learned NOTHING in your class which will stick. As a Prof (I taught Math) I considered the final the most important test. If you can’t perform on the Final after taking a semester of class, how the hell are you going to use this material one month later? Edit - CRAP! Sucked in on a zombie thread. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/94 "2013-05-09T15:53:12Z")
I had a professor like you last semester. He clearly did not give even a whiff of a shit about whether or not his students understood the material, or was completely and utterly incapable of putting himself in the shoes of those he was teaching. He taught a first-year introductory math course as if we already all had a huge mathematical background, and everyone knew what terms like Homomorphism and Gaussian Elimination (which we are learning _this_ semester) meant. Might be food for thought; if your students don’t get it, it might be you. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/95 "2013-05-09T16:01:49Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I had a professor like you last semester. He clearly did not give even a whiff of a shit about whether or not his students understood the material, or was completely and utterly incapable of putting himself in the shoes of those he was teaching. He taught a first-year introductory math course as if we already all had a huge mathematical background, and everyone knew what terms like Homomorphism and Gaussian Elimination (which we are learning _this_ semester) meant. Might be food for thought; if your students don’t get it, it might be you. or it might be the students. Open enrollment colleges means you get many college students that shouldn’t be in college. Not sure where you get the ‘like me’ since I never used those words. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/96 "2013-05-09T16:14:18Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > She’s not a teacher. She’s a professor. > [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Oh God. Finals. > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I had a professor like you last semester. I am positive that you three will get a response. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/97 "2013-05-09T16:14:42Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Missed one. Apparently your brain just couldn’t let you do it three times. 😃 It was torture. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/98 "2013-05-09T17:40:37Z")
Why the hell would she come back? She expressed her frustration and anger with a subset of her students, and everyone dog piled on her cuz she said she hated every single one of her students and nothing was ever good and she was a bad person for hating every single one of her students and why is she a professor if she hates every single one her students, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/99 "2013-05-09T17:54:10Z")
A college professor ranting about how dumb her students are really should make sure she spells _plagiarizing_ correctly; lest she look somewhat silly. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227/100 "2013-05-09T18:11:43Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > She’s not a teacher. She’s a professor. It’s a world of difference in the conditions. Students should come to her already prepared to learn with study skills. Molecular pathogensis is not high school biology and the students shouldn’t be pulling this crap. > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I had a professor like you last semester. He clearly did not give even a whiff of a shit about whether or not his students understood the material, or was completely and utterly incapable of putting himself in the shoes of those he was teaching. He taught a first-year introductory math course as if we already all had a huge mathematical background, and everyone knew what terms like Homomorphism and Gaussian Elimination (which we are learning _this_ semester) meant. Might be food for thought; if your students don’t get it, it might be you. > [@hotflungwok](#): > > Why the hell would she come back? She expressed her frustration and anger with a subset of her students, and everyone dog piled on her cuz she said she hated every single one of her students and nothing was ever good and she was a bad person for hating every single one of her students and why is she a professor if she hates every single one her students, etc. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > A college professor ranting about how dumb her students are really should make sure she spells _plagiarizing_ correctly; lest she look somewhat silly. You all do realize this thread is 13 years old and the odds of **light strand** answering you or even still being around is very slim. Reading is fundamental, including dates. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-my-students/24227.md?page=6)