why are some teachers so insistantly aggressive about punishing children for having interests they dont understand?
I remember this shit happening while I was still in school too where anything that was really popular among young boys was instantly labelled a distraction that you could be punished for. pokemon, yu-gi-oh, beyblades, all of them were banned very quickly from my school and I remember on numerous occassions teachers calling them stupid and pointless and going on tangents about how they dont let their children engage in interests like that because it rots your brain. what was the deal? And the main excuse would always be that it was a distraction. Like yeah thats the point pricipal dr.deepshit, children cant be expected to be 100% focussed on their schoolwork for 8 hours a day. they need to have outlets to blow off steam because school is fucking hard. let kids like things you stank asses.
I remember Pokemon getting banned at my first elementary school because it was “unChristian”, and even at that young of an age I knew that was complete hogwash.
People hate children
I have a lot of sympathy for public school teachers trying to reduce distractions and manage chaos. Overcrowded class sizes, insufficient resources, and lack of support and administrators are just a few factors that make it hard to thrive in that kind of environment.
Having said that, the tactic used in the original post is 100% the wrong approach. In reality, it’s only going to make a difficult situation worse.
Tired: “Stop talking about this thing you love!”
Wired: “Let me tell you how today’s lesson relates to that thing you love!”
This is obviously a great solution, but it needs good knowledge about the thing in question, and frankly, that’s a big burden to put on teachers’ shoulders.
A, let’s say, easier compromise, is to set *reasonable* boundaries: allow pupils some time to enjoy their stuff, as others have mentioned they shouldn’t be expected to be 100% focused 100% of the time, that’s just ridiculous. But often if you allow controlled freedom, pupils will respect it. (Not always but often.)
Also, if you’ve got a bit of spare time: if you don’t know what they’re talking about, simply ask them *why* they love something so much. It’s not guaranteed, but you’ll often find some jumping point to get back to your topic more naturally, and use your “Wired” technique 🙂
High-Wired: “Extra credit for anybody who can teach me at the end of class how today’s lesson relates to that thing you love!”
Harvest Guardian 