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I don't get it--what EXACTLY is the problem with questioning adult authority?
<sarcasm> Because adults are ALWAYS right. A mere child can not possibly comprehend the how the mind of an adult works. Even if something doesn't seem right or fair, a child MUST NEVER question it. To question the adult would be disrespectful to the adult. They are not only questioning the adults authority, they are questioning the adult's very intellegence. This is disrespectful because a mere child is incapable of understanding the vast wisdom of the adult mind. </sarcasm>
Well that is what some people think.
I guess some people out there probably read about Umbridge and were reminded of themselves and felt threatened by it.
How dare Harry or anyone question authority....
You know what, not everyone who is in authority is ALWAY INFALLIABLY RIGHT! There are some adults out there with basically no life and they get some kind of sadisitic thrill out of lording it over children in the most unfair ways just for a power trip.
Umbridge and Snape and some of the people in the books are examples of this. They are fictional charactors, but real people such as this can and do exist.
They don't care for the child or the childs feeling in the least.
These types have very little patience, probably hate their jobs most days, and should consider doing something else anyway. But they insist on working with children anyway. They probably come in to work already in a bad mood. They make new rules every five minutes and if any child does anything they don't like, they insist on making a new rule until there are so many rules that nearly every child starts to break one sooner or later!
Children are not perfect, nor should they be expected to be!
You might make a million rules, punish kids, and basically make them fear and hate you. But a classroom where children do not feel relaxed and peaceful is not a learning classroom. A child who fears you does not learn as well as a child who likes you and wants to please you.
Injustice does happen, and if I had kids I'd teach them to respectfully question things that don't seem right. I'd teach them to respectfully ask a teacher to explain something they don't understand or don't think is fair. And I'd also teach my children to come to me if they don't get a good answer.
Because teachers CAN and DO have favorites. Teachers and authority figures CAN AND DO bend the rules for those they like. Teachers and authority figures CAN AND DO discriminate.
There is nothing wrong with questioning authority. Authority is getting paid to do a good and fair job and they need to do their job right.