Everyday Ethics: Teachable moments during election season
I made a terrible mistake yesterday. I decided to stay away from working and spend the day doing as little as possible except watch television. I was inundated with political ads for the upcoming elections which portrayed doomsday if one candidate were elected and showed a host of ghastly traits of opponents.
There was something about the worst campaign ads that left me wondering why anyone would vote at all. Was this the best we could offer? I felt like not voting at all, which actually might be the real reason for the ads.
Shutting off the TV, I realized I had dealt with these kinds of candidates and situations before as a teacher. Behind closed doors, teachers share horror stories of classroom problems with what are sometimes called “students from hell,” and swap strategies for dealing with them.
Whether you teach in an elementary school or a college, every teacher prepares for the inevitable moment when a student or two acts out and must be dealt with. Unless one deals with this moment, chaos may result and everyone loses.
The times one deals with class crises are sometimes called “teachable moments,” when a teacher can use even an unruly student or two to help everyone learn something. You may be able to send young pupils to the back of the room, but it doesn’t work as well with college students who see their new privacy as a chance to play games on their laptops.
As I have watched and heard politicians vying for votes, it has dawned on me I could use teaching strategies I have used in the classroom to deal with them, especially the more disruptive ones who demand attention and often bully others.
Generally speaking, there are three major types of students who disrupt classes. I have listed them below with strategies for dealing with each. Perhaps you can broaden each category to include politicians.
The Disrupter will do anything to disrupt the class, from talking when not appropriate to throwing erasers or wads of paper at other students. Call the disrupter out gently once and give a warning. If this fails, send the disrupter to the detention hall.
The Bully demands being at the center of attention and will do anything to get it, including threatening other students. Call the bully out once with a firm warning. If that doesn’t work, remove this pupil from the room and send to the principal’s office.
The Cheater seldom studies for a test but will find a way to cheat by reading off someone’s exam or by submitting a paper written by someone else. Give the cheater a failing grade but permit him or her to retake the exam after school with you being the monitor.
When dealing with political disrupters, bullies or cheaters, you have the power a teacher doesn’t have — vote them out of office. Keeping them in office only encourages their behaviors and could negatively impact others who want to cooperate and get things done.
But there’s always summer when for weeks you can stop thinking about disrupters, bullies, and cheaters and take a break. In the political mess that now seems to engulf us what many of us really want is a break with less political chaos and more calm — and leaders who work together to help us and not themselves.