It has been brought to my attention that in one of my recent acerbic, satirical posts that perhaps I am an authoritarian figure. After thinking about, there is a certain truth in that.

I have been a high school teacher for over 33 years. Teachers tend to be authoritarian on occasion. Afterall.we are dealing with a small community in our classrooms. It is a mixture of individual personalities, many of which would rather be anywhere else rather than sitting in that classroom; i.e. skatebording, fishing, hanging out, etc.

As such, in order to have a functional learning environment, it becomes necessary to establish classroom rules that benefit the majority that are amiable and interested in learning. At times, as a teacher we must exert a little more authoritarian pressure than we desire to address those truly recalcitrant members who seek to keep everybody off balance and take away from the positive learning environment. Of course, we would prefer active engagement to replace rules and recalcitrant behavior, but at times even that doesn't reach the occasional hard to reach student.

Right now the Nation is our classroom and the American population are our students. Likewise, occasionally the government must exact firmer rules and actions to bring recalcitrant members in line with what is a more positive societal environment. Right now Republicans and anti-vaxxers are our recalcitrant members. They preceive that their desire to not be told what to do is greater than the health of out country and our society. They have misplaced understanding of the Rights given to us in our Constitution. They feel incorrectly that their personal discomfort with following rules of any kind and discomfort with accountability supercedes the health of the greater society. They are wrong, just like the recalcitrant child who wants to keep the classroom off balance and distracted from the business at hand.

So I guess I tend at times to be slightly authoritarian. Fortunately, I rarely have to exact any Draconian rules as my students respect who I am. what I am giving them, and their peers shut them down when they feel their learning environment is threatened.