Powerful

Umay katungdanan baja ni Tulfo? The broadcaster (?) is trending now due to his ill comments and judgment to the teacher who is being reported by a grandmother whose grandson was being “disciplined” by the teacher. The latter sent the kid out of the classroom since he failed to bring back the report card to the school. The grandmother angrily claimed that her grandson is traumatized by the act of the teacher. Tulfo then told the teacher to face criminal and administrative cases. The teacher said sorry but the mother who could be seen as a very young one insisted that the teacher MUST “rest”. (Digression: Since the mother is so young and the grandma was the aggressive one, one could wonder if she was a teenage mother.)

Broadcast journalists, like all journalists, try to deliver news to the public. But broadcast journalism specifically refers to a way of delivering the news to the people other than via the newspaper or other print sources. Generally, this category includes anyone associated with a radio or television (and increasingly the internet) news broadcast (Sailus, 2019).

Since this is journalism, the news and opinions must be anchored on facts and adheres to being fair and unbiased.

That is when the netizens cried foul on Tulfo as he started to be enslaved with his power using the platform as a source of confidence. There were even instances when he badmouthed public servants as if he is the direct supervisor of these people. He could claim that he belongs to the “public” the person is serving but what about manners? What about professionalism and due process?

One could wonder what he took up when he was still studying. Persons like me could be disinterested since these persons seem to have this messianic acts as if they are the answers to societal problems. Those who understand that his platform is still a commercial one can raise their eyebrows and think about the other side of envelopmental journalism. Theirs are just focused on the ratings and the number of ads they could have! So, they need to be controversial!

Sometimes, one could wonder why people are afraid of him. But power tripping is indeed fearsome. Newman (2012) mentions that power tripping is when people advance their own interests at the expense of the common good. The power tripper benefits at the cost of others and the organization by taking advantage of the trust placed in them.

The different teaching communities are reacting to the way the grandmother and Tulfo acted. Some even asked whether they went to public schools and DID NOT experience being disciplined by their teachers. We can still remember being scolded and whacked by rulers and sticks once we committed minor or major mistakes. We were not traumatized. In fact, we turned out to be better students.

I was even a teacher being feared by my students. I scolded some of them for submitting mediocre results. I threw outputs not within the set standards and I called the attention of those who loafed around and semi-screamed to them for wasting their resources and their parents’. Yet they turned out to be achievers and national winners.

So what is the brouhaha on this discipline thing? I am an advocate of Child Protection (this is even my dissertation) but we need to understand as well that DISCIPLINE IS NOT AN ENEMY OF LEARNING. In fact it is an ally of attaining the needed knowledge, skills and attitudes to become a functional adult.

I'm not saying that we should scream and hurt learners. But we need to understand that Jesus even screamed and whipped those who desecrated His Father's house. There is such a thing as righteous anger. 

Tulfo is laughing out loud right now. His program is trending online and advertisers are queuing to be part of the murk since bad publicity is still publicity. Money is flowing like water from a strong source…

Teachers are bombarded with a lot. It is high time that the parents will also have their own way of being disciplined. Or let them conduct homeschooling themselves. Let us see if they could cope with the standards of the academic world.

If the medical community turned Yeng Constantino’s career to become sour due to her infamous doctor-shaming, the teaching community could also join forces in toppling the power Tulfo is holding on. Let us see if his crutch could make him stand proud once again.

I-Tulfo mo na yan!