You're both missing the point that Treaty of Batum and I were hitting on, about the kid in question. From what I took out of Treaty of Batum's post, both of our points focus on the kid rather than the teacher. For all I know, the teacher could be completely inept, but none of us are in a place to make a judgement about that. What we are capable of making a judgement about though, is what we saw from the clip, with that kid's semi-incoherent rant. I think Treaty of Batum has the kid pegged pretty well from that. And PapaG, don't give me this bullshit about bureaucratic channels... we're talking about high school, not government. I also saw you talking about people's personal experiences with other posters, telling them to look up Duncanville... shit... look up MEMPHIS! I went to school in one of the worst educational systems in the nation, and I turned out pretty damn fine... and I've had several teachers like this. I'm not saying those teachers shouldn't have been fired, but what I can say with confidence is that I've got this kid pegged... I've had kids like that in my classes, the redneck kids who are frustrated being at a city school... and that kid just comes off as just as much of a dumbass as every kid I've known in that situation... Should the teacher have been let go? It depends... we need more backstory. I'm not going to get into the educational system down here in the South, because that'll lead to a lot of long-winded arguments and rants on my part, but I'll be real... my first response to this video was, "that teacher probably sucks, but what a douche that kid is..."
Yeah, I saw that soon after I posted it. I wasn't able to delete it so I left it there as a point to at least mock with validity the holier-than-art-thou bullshit that you assume.
You seriously couldn't grasp with fullness every point that kid made? Ay Caramba! I grew up in a good school system but had a fucked up home life being orphaned at 11 and going through a whole lot of shit related to it. I promise you that good school system did nothing to prepare me for life's troubles; in fact, it made it tougher due to my sharing little in common with my middle-class peers. I'm going to assume you had a decent home at least(which is most important), otherwise you'd be a fucking outlier spouting this self-referencing success story, not just a product of a relatively good home and of relatively good genes.
I think the teacher's disinterested tone during her response was the thing that bothered me the most. And in her (lackluster) response to the student's rant, she seemed more concerned with the fact that he was "wasting her time" rather than how he was showing disrespect to her position, setting a terrible precedent for how to deal with inept authority figures, and disrupting the rest of the class, potentially hindering their opportunity to learn (if, in fact, she was doing any teaching). I agree that under normal circumstances, his tack was wrong on many levels. But I also can see the value in the method chosen, especially if the videography was pre-planned. I do worry, however, that the success of this protest has the potential to spawn others in less worthy situations.
Could be true. But the video doesn't show any of that, which is all most people have to base their initial opinion on. I didn't do any more research on it, and I'm sure most didn't either. So to say, purely from the video, that the kid should get a standing ovation and be applauded is pretty silly. I disagree. This type of ranting and reaction to something you disagree with doesn't work in the real world and in business, even if you are completely right. The ability to disagree and express those disagreements through the correct channels and in the correct tone is what gets rewarded in real life.
Awesome. You can't read correctly, go on a completely irrational rant directed at me, and then pull the "you're holier-than-art-thou" card. Ironic.
where to start.. its only HS and that is just the way it is...fuck that thinking..here in Corvallis, one of the highest educated communities in Oregon, we have a sub par 67 percent HS graduation rate...and this is a privileged area... That kid lives in a shit hole, left school and came back, is an 18 year soph..wants to learn and is getting zero help....he should accept this shit? He went about it the wrong way...yeh..even he knows this..but to pile on about "the right way", what a farce...this "right thinking" would have kept Rosa Parks in the back of the buss, giving upher seat to a white man...no VN protests, no watergate, zip...fuck that, I still want to believe that ONE person can start to make a difference..
Nobody speaks up like if they don't care. So not knowing the circumstances that made him speak up in the first place I'm not sure I can say he had a legitimate beef with his teacher, but I guess I'm just glad to see somebody that gives a shit about their education. I'm suddenly just a hair more optimistic about the human race than I was when I woke up this morning ... I'm sure it will pass though.
Yes, but who's to say the kid doesn't do other things besides speaking his mind? Who's to say he's not involved in the community? Your post way overgeneralizes, as if all HS kids volunteer and give back to the community. Seems to me that most kids I run across volunteering are there because of a requirement (maybe a school project, scouts, sport coach requires it, college requires it, got in trouble with the law or parents, etc).
So you're saying that standing up to poor leadership or protocol is never a good option? Actions speak much louder than words, and the school district has backed this young man in both their words (agreeing about touching students' hearts) and actions (suspending a piece of crap teacher). Sometimes the grand gesture is the right move, and based on the attention given to this grand gesture, it seems to me that it should not only be applauded, but also was necessary. This guy...
Nope. I definitely didn't say that. I'm not sure why you're trying to build a strawman about that. Obviously there are multiple ways that one can stand up to poor leadership or people you disagree with. Some are better approaches than others. Some are completely out of line. If he had stood up and slapped the teacher or threatened with a gun (yeah, I know, extreme example), should that have been applauded? Like I said earlier, this is new information that was learned after the fact. Watching the video alone doesn't give any insight to this. And most people were making their judgement based purely off the video. It sometimes is the right move, if done in the correct way. It isn't necessarily the right move if done the wrong way. There's the ol' saying: Two wrongs don't make a right.
Good for this kid. Glad he stood up for himself and his classmates. The most horrific part was that the teacher didn't elect to have further discourse about why he felt this way as a student and what she could do to change it. She seemed fairly laid back for what was occurring, as if she didn't care; which would make sense, if what the student said about her saying its just a paycheck for her, is indeed, true. Lets remember he is 18 and in high school, he probably didn't go about it the right way, but I'm sure when most people were 18 and in high school, they probably blurted out on more than one occasion. Also, I'd like to add, lets not act like students don't talk back ever. They do. This HAPPENED to be one of the more thought out and less aggressive versions possible - with a clear cause and purpose. The proper way to do so would've been to contact the Principal, but who knows what the system is like over there. Maybe bringing attention to the matter was necessary - and obviously effective. Change was needed, he spurred change, kudos to him.
Thanks for the update ABM. What will be interesting is to see if the kid follows up his passion with trying to create change within the school or allow his 1.5 minutes rant to stand as his statement and impact on the school. I hope he runs for student body, tries to start a group who share his same passion or does something to piggyback the attention he is getting with the video. His issue with the teacher is she isn't doing anything . . . his chance to show teacher and administration what someone with motivation can do. Of course with all the attention this video is getting, I have to quote my good friend papag who say: This nothingburger is bigger news that the bombshell information of obvious cover-ups given out today by eyewitnesses at the consulate who spoke at the Benghazi hearings. We're People Magazine Ammmurrrica. Somebody pull my finger.
