VIOLENCE IN CLASS

Yesterday I was shocked to see a video on TV showing a high-school teacher verbally assaulting a student whose behaviour did not seem disruptive at all. He only disagreed with the teacher’s fundamentalist defence of Peronism. Not only was the student berated, he was also threatened that he would fail his final exam and would have to retake it in March. By monopolising the debate and ruling out the student’s opinion, the teacher comes off as a party activist, a role that does not befit an educator. I cannot understand why teaching is in the hands of educators who do not foster a climate of mutual respect but what has really outraged me is to see how our president misconstrued what had happened in this class by calling it “a debate to open up the students’ minds.” How can he blindly endorse so much verbal violence? His statement is another instance of political shortsightedness, at a time when the electorate is getting ready to decide what they want for the future of the country when they next cast their vote at the polling station.

Adrian Insaubralde, Santa Fe