Who has the more honorable profession: a teacher who cultivates young minds or a soldier who defends your country?

Well, before I answer let me just say what these too have in common.

Both are underappreciated, especially by those who claim to support them the most.

Both are seriously underpaid, but you get called a Commie if you bring that up.

Both are subject to being blamed for the actions of a few morons among their ranks.

Both often face having to take the heat for the incompetent or even malicious actions of their superiors.

That said, I have to go with teachers, simply because I can't imagine tkaing a job where I'd be asked to kill someone. But that's just my personal opinion.

They can be equally honorable or dishonorable depending on the person.

This is a great question, but really hard to answer. I guess that I'll have to say that they are equally honorable, because both give up a lot of themselves to build the future for tomorrow.

Great question. Here's your cookie.

Soldier. There wouldn't be any need for teachers without the soldier defending the country.

Both honorable but I'd rather be a teacher than a soldier.

I don't think either job is inherently more honorable than the other; and I don't know how, SC, you expect anyone to qualitatively differentiate between the two.

Having said that however, you would have to ask about the motives of the people entering either profession. How many people join the service for patriotic reasons versus joining to get the college fund? How many people become teachers with altruistic intentions versus wanting an easy life (summers off, not much real work, etc.)?

BTW: I was a soldier for 8 years; my mother was a teacher for 32 years; and my cousin and his wife are bith teachers; I can attest that the less honorable motives I delineated above are real in both professions.

It's hard to compare.. and it depends a lot upon the individual (I see honor as more of a personal thing). But, I picked soldier because deep down, I tend to feel they have more honor.

I don't think you can rank honor. It's senseless.

Teacher.

> Both are seriously underpaid, but you get called
> a Commie if you bring that up.

I don't know how it is in America, but in Canada neither are underpaid. Teachers earn 70k on average and the military pays a lot.

Both are equally as honorable, I guess. I just don't understand the fact that in order to provide freedom for everyone else, the soldiers have to have theirs removed.

I think both can be equally honorable to a certain extent. It really depends on the individual practicing or engaging in the profession. There are good and bad elements in both professions.

teachers and i dont think they get paid enough especially the early teachers K-12, a teacher and their actual ability to teach things to children/teens has a huge affect on how knowledgeable a person is/becomes, whether they go to college(this isnt soley the teacher but i do believe they have an impact), etc. also im not going to down soldiers but think about it, in order to become one you have to have a high school diploma or GED...so it seems its because of their education that most soldiers are accepted into the army, etc. i could have this wrong but that was my understanding of how it worked..

you know i never thought about those i guess they are similiar in alot of ways, im still sticking with teachers though, if your asking who i think and not what most people think (as in i believe teachers have a more honorable proffesion where as society probably believes soldiers do) i dont want to put down our soldiers, they risk their lives for us and others and i think that is honorable, i just think it shouldnt have to be that way and that it leads to senseless death,, war is ridiculous, i know its not our men/women's fault most the time though, its all those ignorant people who want to go off starting things and bulleying other countries. sorry got off subject some

i think both are honorable as are so many other professions. i don't think one is more so than any other.

In the States many teachers have to get second jobs to pay all their bills, and many live below the poverty level. And the Righties still think they get paid too much. *eye roll*

Honorable? Soldier, I guess as they're willing to give their lives. I'd prefer my children to be teachers than soldiers though as I think being a teacher has more... can't think of the word - dignity, altruism, compassion, maybe?

a soldier that defends our country

Both are honorable...as long as the teacher is not some liberal left wing wacko nut job who poisons the minds of his/her students with his/her own agenda...

I think the professions are equally honourable. How the individual performs their duties would be the real measurement though.

Brian, I think you should move to Canada. We might have higher taxes, but we also have many things the States don't have (we do not, however, have Fox Headline news).

> Both are honorable...as long as the teacher
> is not some liberal left wing wacko nut job who
> poisons the minds of his/her students with his/her
> own agenda...

You mean those horrible anti-American concepts like evolution, gravity, compassion, tolerance, or actually learning anything as opposed to memorizing test answers? Yeah, can't have any of that. Then we might actually have a BETTER education system than Guatamala.

I'm more concerned about Right Wing nutjobs poisoning young minds with their anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-intellectual crap thank you very much.

Other.......... Its hard to put teacher and honorable together like this (Soldier is easy) adjectives that jump at me when I think teacher is........ selfless, hard working, giving

Teacher..

I've always wondered why people are always saying teachers are underpaid.

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swz...

The average pay for a teacher in the U.S. is around $47,000. I don't know about where everyone else lives, but where I live this is a very comfortable salary. My SO and I combined do not make this much (and guess what? we have everything we need and then some). If this teacher marries someone who makes around the same thing, double it.

Good survey Brian!

Good question. They're both very honerable but overall I think I'll go with the teacher.

The teacher gets crappy pay with little benefits, deals with immature adolecent kids. The soldier, allthough they don't get paid much and risk getting killed; they also get killer benefits, plus they get all the women they want lol. Plus, people respect them and such.

I wouldn't be too surprised if this survey turns into male vs female type of deal; with soldiering being the male way of supporting the nation by going out there fighting enemies and teacher being the female-domestic way of serving. Allthough these days more women are in the army and more men are teachers. I think I even once wrote an essay on how there should be a teacher draft for collage students due to the lack of teachers and make collage students serve if there is a shortage of teachers. I also believe I heard somewheres that there's a shortage of males and minorities in the teaching profession and they are desperate for minority males. So basicly if you're say black AND male and you apply to a teacher, you basicly got the job as long as you spell your name right; and if you are only EITHER black or a male, you still have a pretty good shot.

He's got a point brian. I wouldn't want either left-winged nut jobs or right-winged nut jobs --or just plain non-partison nut-jobs-- teaching our kids.

btw: I don't consider teaching evolution and that gays, women, men, minorities, and poor people are equal under the law as left-wing. I consider them universal as well as American values.

I can't possibly answer this question.

I think both are honorable, but I'm having to go with the Soldier who has the "Most" honorable profession, because the Soldier pays with a higher price....And he's/she's keeping my life "FREE". Thank-You to all the US Soldiers who are still here, may God keep his hands on you, and to those Soldiers who have gone, God holds a special place for you in heaven,
And I'm told from a Marine family, it's the Marines that stand guard at the Pearly Gates.

It's hard to argue against going with the men and women who protect their country and its citizens, but my father is a math teacher in middle school and he deserves combat pay also. Barring extreme cases where individuals in either profession perform atrocities I am going to have to say soldier is the more honorable of the two. Sorry Pop.

Since when are American Values universal? I believe it is that way of approaching the subject that has put us, the United States, on many nation's "craplist".

no no no, thats not what I meant. What I meant was that equality is a universal valuse AND an American one at the same time. I am saying that they coinside in some cases.

Don't twist my words into prezels.

I like pretzels, but I'll try not to. That makes more sense to me now.

ok

I think both are honorable, but I give the teacher way more credit here. I would love to teach.

we are all teachers in our own sense, just as we all are students

This is my dream--to teach civics/American Government, I kid you not. But dealing with high school students (which is the grade level I want to teach is another thing). You are right though, we are all teachers and we can always learn something new.

yeah, i couldn't be a teacher in the literal sense. i don't think i would have the patience for such a thing.

your ass, teachers aren't allowed to get paid below the poverty level; unions and local laws saw to that in the 60's

a teacher who defends my country

Battle Teacher!

Both are equal in my mind.

I may catch alot of flack, but...
"Support the soldiers, not the war"

***In regards to why I'm in PA for my education instead of doing it locally in FL? (Begging for $$$ in forum)

When I'm done with college, I'll be a teacher, do you think that I want to be taught in a state that fell from 47th down to the 48th ranked state?!?!?!

30-40K is the average, and that's ALOT of tenure. I've heard that NY offers 50K a year as they are in such need.

MrPoopyPnts, wasn't it you that I had a conversation with about panhandling, that you want an 'interesting' story to boot?

When I was in NYC a panhandler had a sign stating "Parents killed by ninjas, Please help so I can take Kung Fu"

that is awesome!!!

unfortunately we were in a rush, like everyone else in the city, & had to catch a bus, so I wasn't able to reward him for the creativity.

Is 30-40k decent?

Not when I last year with overtime I made 19K stocking shelves, and not when I'm paying about 15K per semester to go to school. In addition, I could without any college work for a grocery store and make the same (roughly) as an assistant department manager. Something is wrong with this system.

i think i would'a hollared out the window, "jackie chan rocks!!!" followed by a peace sign.
still...that is the most clever sign, i think i have ever heard of. you're pretty lucky to witness it in person, ya know.

The interesting part is that it was after the protest march, so there were plenty of Japanese there as well

hehehehe...that's classic!

I'd have given him a sawbuck for that

Definitely worth the laugh, especially considering I'm still talking about it 3 weeks later.

The teacher.

I don't think that honour is something that you can measure and compare between groups. I think there are honourable and dishonourable people who are soldiers and who are teachers. I think that for all the people who become teachers for the "wrong" reasons, there are people who become soldiers for the "wrong" reasons. But there are also people who have a true vocation for both. Each to their own. Without soldiers, we might not need teachers. But without teachers, what are the soldiers defending?

There was a very good reason that teachers here were exempt during conscription in the second world war.

Some teachers may even be honorable enough to be soldiers.

most teachers just have to read out of a book, anyone can do that

Teacher, hands down.