Balancing Both Sides
I remember when we were learning about the Chernobyl Accident in my seventh grade social studies class, our teacher was explaining the disastrous consequences of the event. She talked about the people and animals who lived there, and I remember her specifically saying, “I would show you guys pictures of the people and animals who were affected by the radiation, but they are a bit gory so I decided not to. If you guys are interested in seeing those, you can look into that on your own”, and this came to mind as we discussed the role of history teachers in relation to protection this week. Both my social studies teacher and the history teacher in Billy Collins’s The History Teacher displayed the same motive of “trying to protect [the] students’ innocence”; however, with different degrees.
In the situation of the poem, we are all extremely frustrated at the teacher because he is taking away so much detail from the actual events, and the consequences of this aren’t helping the children either, for they are “torment[ing] the weak”. His definition of protection to his students is clearly not what he intended it to be and from an outside standpoint, we see that his teaching style is not worthwhile. On the other hand, if seventh grade me was to see the disturbing pictures of the effect of radiation on the people and animals in Chernobyl, I would definitely have been uncomfortable and questioned why my teacher would show the class these kinds of images. I’m almost positive the whole class was rather relieved than upset that we didn’t see the pictures and I’m pretty sure no one went home and looked up pictures on their own. In this instance, the “protection” of my teacher is appreciated and found to be reasonable.
From this, I concluded that protection in regards to education is a two-way concept and can never be satisfied by both sides; there will always be the splitting viewpoint between having “too much” or “too little”. In the end, it’s a matter of finding the balance point between the two extremes.
This week’s song:
Rascal Flatts - Life is a Highway // https://youtu.be/5tXh_MfrMe0
Esther I loved the connection your post made to your own experiences. I experienced a similar situation in my eighth grade English class when we were learning about World War 2. However, I relate to the idea that though we argue that protection isn't necessary, I was relieved when I didn't have to see pictures of people dying from the radiation of the atom bombs. I love how you mentioned the balance that we need to find. In most situations, I find myself trying to force myself to choose a side. In this case, it's difficult because every case is different. Thank you for introducing me to this compromise! Also, I love the song choice this week; it's relevant and reminds me of watching "Cars":)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your idea that there are two different sides to this. In fact, I wrote something similar in my blog. Most things in life don't have a definite answer, and there will always be disagreements as to which side is right. The most reasonable answer is to just try and find the middle line between the two. I also like the song you shared with us, as I share many of the same feelings.
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