Scary teachers. They’re a staple of children’s literature, and it’s not hard to guess why. Outside of parents and guardians, teachers are the biggest authority figures in young children’s lives; they control the entire school day, and alongside imparting knowledge, their jobs involve discipline, giving out punishments, and, often, stopping kids doing what they really want to do.
Of course, many teachers do these things with kindness, fairness, and compassion for the children they look after – but we’ve all had that one terrifying teacher who just really, really seemed to hate kids, and wasn’t afraid to show it. Add to this the fact that many classic children’s books were written by authors who went to school during the age of corporal punishment—Roald Dahl being a famous example—and it’s easy to see why so many stories feature frightening teachers who exist solely to scare the children in their care.
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