Walk into a classroom 30 years ago and you would probably see a teacher at the front of the room explaining the lesson in a firm but calm voice. Students would be sitting in rows, speaking only when called upon to answer a question.

Things are different today. Teachers generally don't inspire the awe and fear they did back then. Many see today's students as disrespectful, but if adults listened to the students, they might be surprised by what they found.

As Emmanuel Edwards, 13, said, "If a teacher won't respect me, I ain't gonna respect them."

Y-Press recently interviewed a group of YMCA campers who visited the Children's Museum to see what makes children respect or disrespect their teachers. We also talked to a group of children at the Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Service Center.

The dictionary defines respect as a deferential esteem felt or shown toward a person or quality. Adults may see a student-teacher relationship as being authority driven, but kids feel differently.

"They should be a friend, sort of like a friend to go to so that you won't feel so uncomfortable," said Kierra Brocks, 12.

Ronee Mozee, 13, likes an experienced teacher. "I think that teachers should be nice as well as organized and focused on what they're doing and have a lot of experience," she said. But a teacher shouldn't be too nice. "They can't be all soft all the time, giving you cookies and movies. No, you have to be strict," she added.

Other qualities students appreciate in teachers are patience and understanding. "They have to actually know how to listen to others," Alizabeth Davis, 11, said.

When asked to describe favorite teachers, they cited teachers who were patient. "My favorite teacher was Miss Parker because she helped me with my learning," Alizabeth said.

"I have a teacher who's really nice. She'll work with you," said Shane Castle, 14.

Two of the main complaints concerning teachers are impatience and a bad temper.

"(When) they have to teach me something I don't understand, they can't yell. They have to go over it and over it so I get it," Ronee said.

But not all teachers live up to this standard. Julie Cross, 13, described a teacher who left her frustrated.

"She'll try to make me do work that I don't understand, and I'll ask her why she's doing that, and I always get in trouble," Julie said.

Emmanuel said one teacher's impatience backfired.

"She yells at people too much. She yells at me, but I yell right back at her. If she doesn't give me respect I need, I don't give her respect she needs."

Kids don't respect teachers who don't listen to them, they said. "The teachers don't let you speak your mind sometimes," Kierra said. "It's one thing that they discipline you for cussing at somebody and stuff like that. But if you're saying, 'I don't understand,' (and) they just say, 'Put your hand down,' How are you supposed to learn?"

Frustration can lead to disrespect. Said Jewlya Yateman, 10: "I used to not like math because (the teacher) always used to say, 'Learn your division; you have to learn it,' and she was gonna not pass me for the fifth grade, and I was getting mad, and I started throwing a fit in class."

Kids don't show respect if a teacher is too apathetic, either.

"The teachers at my school, they don't care. They (say), 'I'm not paid enough for you guys to be acting like this,' " Shane said.

Most of the kids agreed that most disrespectful behavior could be avoided if teachers were the first to show respect.

"If the teachers don't want to get yelled at, then they should have a talk time, where the children can express their feelings," Kierra said.

But the kids said that even if they had a perfect teacher, some kids would act out, sometimes because of problems at home.

"I know lots of kids that have really hard things in their lives, and no one understood that and no one talked to them about it, and that was why they were acting out in class," Julie said.

She has firsthand experience.

"When my parents got divorced, I was in fourth grade, and it was very hard on me. . . . It really affected me at school, and my grades showed that. I mean, I was like an A/B student. I went down to a C/D and maybe a couple of F's," she added.

There are always a few kids who just like to cause trouble, the kids agreed. Alizabeth described one such student:

"There was this boy, he got in trouble one time and he went home and told his mama. His mama came up there yelling and all that, and this teacher is like, 'Why is she yelling at me?' I guess he's just trying to test her to see if she can handle all his little messes or whatever. He was trying to show her that he's the boss," she said.

REPORTERS: Katie Ciresi, 12; Whitney McTush, 13; Grace Shockley, 13; Kaitlin Stallings, 12.