My Mind and Family Collapsed by Bukatsu with No Holidays  

Maruko@zoesan3

（50s Junior High School Teacher)2017

When I was transferred to this school, I took the girls' baseball club instructor. I had no skill or knowledge for coaching them. I left the club to the coach, who had been managing the team, and just followed the coach and the club.

The team had practices from Monday to Friday both in the early morning and after school, and practiced all day on Saturdays and Sundays, with no offs. The coach controlled everything, and I couldn't say even a word. Of course I had a lot of work as a school teacher and my family, so this life style seemed just a waste of time. As a result, it was natural that I got ill, but I couldn't spare time to go to hospital.

After the senior students left the team, new captain student was chosen. One day, I set a day off on a Saturday because of illness. Soon the captain came to me and said, 'We have a tournament game on Sunday, so it is impossible for us NOT to practice the day before. Could you give up the off?' I rejected this offer because I was so ill and took a rest for the first time in several months. I felt very miserable.

  In the middle of summer vacation, I ended up going to a hospital to have a surgery. Fortunately, the surgery took a very short time, so I got home on the day. Again I had to attend club activities every day. I told team captain's parents I had had a surgery. They said, "Now you have recovered, haven't you? Very good! You can support our team without any anxiety!" They showed NO sympathy for me, which made me desparate.

  I wanted to change this awful situation, so I visited the principal and said, "Could you remove me from the basketball team and appoint me to another task?

I will do anything else but instructing basketball."  I never hit on the idea of refusing to be a club instructor at that time, so I finally had other club instructors and a lot of work, which completely made me exhausted and crashed my family.

  One day, I joined the Twitter. Through communicating with other teachers online, I found we teachers have several rights, such as to have a break during worktime or to leave school club activites to students alone.  Instructing school clubs has been doing harm to my health and the most important mission for us--giving lessons to students. We should never sacrifice our lives for instructing school clubs. However, it is almost impossible for us to refuse to be a club instructor. Especially, part-time teachers are afraid of losing next year contract by refusing it. But it's time to stand up. School clubs have been crashing teachers day by day, and young people do not choose to be a teacher as they know our harsh work styles, which may make Japan's schools collapse.  The best and only way is to separate clubs from schools. If so, we can concentrate on our original tasks. In addtion, it will become easier to recruit new teachers.

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