A class of 30 sits quietly as the teacher lectures from the front of the room. The topic, personal finance, is somewhat dry. The content of the lecture is muffled out by unintelligible comments and giggling.
A group of four boys in the back carry on an entire conversation all while the class tries to pay attention to the lecture. From interrupting class to snotty comments, some students have failed the balance of respect in the classroom.
Students often take friendliness too far. Simply because a teacher cracks a joke to alleviate a boring string of mathematical equations is not an open invitation to interrupt the entire class to practice a comedic routine. Far too many students blurt out nonsense to squeeze a laugh from their peers.
The act of interruption is not only frustrating to kids but extraordinarily disrespectful to the instructors, as their hard work and planning is quickly undermined for a poorly thought out joke.
When planning, a teacher blocks certain chunks of time in order for a lesson plan to coherently flow through their day. What is not planned, however, is for an arrogant teenager to shout out a “hysterical” anecdote about his or her weekend. Furthermore, when this anecdote turns to a full story that riles up an entire class, valuable time and information is gone to the wind.
That being said, students should encourage fun in the learning environment; however, they should allocate it for appropriate times, such as independent work, or at the very least when the teacher isn’t lecturing.
Disruptions are an indirect form of disrespect. Students don’t directly wish to aggravate their teachers; they simply attempt to appear funny or clever to their peers.
Mouthing off, however, is a different form of disrespect that adults believe has become more apparent with time, a USAtoday.com poll shows. From a young age, adults teach students to address school faculty with a Mr. or Mrs. As students bridge the age gap of children interacting with adults to children who think they’re adults, gone are the prefixes and are the filters and manners taught so long ago.
During class time, we should see our teacher as an authoritative figure who is there to inform and educate; after all, that is what their job is.
When students begin to view themselves as equals to their teacher, verbal disrespect strikes the class leaving a bitter and annoyed taste in the students and teachers mouth’s.
With that being said, teachers don’t have to be scary figures in classrooms. Fun, lighthearted humor is enjoyable and makes dry content far easier to sit through. Issues, however, begin to arise when students humor the class with their pointless, unnecessary, time-wasting wisecracks.
Disrespect in classrooms, whether in a humorous form or not, is simply unacceptable. Students should keep in mind that they are in class to learn, and not to goof off. Sit down, be quiet, and take notes, because school’s primary focus is to learn.
And, if all else fails, teachers must begin enforcing harsher rules to ensure disruptions in class stay at a minimum.