bullying issues.

My younger sister is a freshman in high school and had an eventful week at school this past week. After her second period class one day, she had four of her friends come and tell her that in their last class the TEACHER had been discussing with the class about how she didn’t like my little sister’s personality, and how rude and conceited she was. This then prompted the class to continue talking about her, and the teacher allowed it to go on. What? How is this even remotely ok? It is so frustrating for me to hear this. It is our job to make sure students feel accepted and safe within the classroom, and here is an example of bullying from the teacher! Luckily, administration was contacted and things are getting figured out, but this just infuriates me. It is NEVER ok to talk about other students especially when they are not even present and in such a harmful manner. This now also has lasting effects. My little sister now has NO reason to want to learn in that class; she will never trust that teacher again; she won’t feel like her grade has been fairly given to her; her peers won’t look at her the same way, and for those students who don’t already know her, they may have a bad impression of her. These students in the class also have been sent the message that bullying is tolerated, and encouraged. A teacher who has been given this authority should absolutely NOT be giving these kinds of ideas to kids. Sorry for the rant, but this whole situation bothers me on two different levels: one, as an older sister who hears that her younger sister has been hurt, and two as a future teacher. It is insulting to think that students are going to hear about this and think it is ok to treat people like that.