My wife has taught business law at a community college in a pretty middle/upper class county near Chicago for the past 15+ years. She has perceived the quality of students as having declined over that time, and is seeking other employment. But I wanted to share the most recent story she brought home yesterday.
She had previously handed out an assignment that was due yesterday - on one side of the sheet of paper was a news article, and on the other were questions and an explanations of what analysis/interpretation was expected. A reasonably diligent student trying to do an okay job might spend 30 minutes - an hour tops - on it.
The class hands in their assignments, and she realizes one of the papers she received was the original assignment sheet with a student’s name and the words “F YOU!” scrawled across it in large capital letters. She approached the student, showed him the sheet, and said, “I don’t believe this is what you intended to hand in.” He responded, "Yes I did. That is what I think of your assignment."
After a couple more exchanges (during which the kid expressed his desire to take the test that was scheduled for that day) my wife said something along the lines of “Let’s go talk to the dean.” He responded, “You don’t want to go there.” Given the entire situation, my wife thought that somewhat threatening, and certainly beyond what she ought to have to tolerate as a college instructor. But she didn’t want to cause a bigger scene, so she handed out the test, and saw the dean after class.
Things got even better when the dean’s main concern was, “What kind of problems might the student be experiencing that would cause him to act in that manner.” There was ZERO possibility of the kid being removed from the class - at most, any resolution might require that he participate in some counseling. My wife was recommended to not inform campus security because that would “tend to escalate things” and generally was "not to the instructor’s favor."
So, ya got anything to beat that? Able to conceive of ANY situation in which such behavior is not outrageous? The dean’s reaction was not at all unsuspected in light of their trend towards treating students as customers who are always right.
While there might be a perceived decline in the quality of students, in this case there appears to be an actual decrease in the quality and durability of the spines of the school administrators.
I am glad she is getting out and wish her luck in her new endeavors.
I can’t believe you actually managed to type that all out – I’d be shaking too hard with rage. Arghh. If he wasn’t already a useless git in class, just imagine how much worse he’ll be now that it’s clear who holds the real power. How many more assignments or tests must he fail to flunk out completely? Surely there’s some bar, however low?
I only hope she drew a red circle around the ‘F’ in ‘F You’ and handed it back to him!
As someone who taught in a public alternative high school for six years (Salt Lake City) and witnessed the abusive behavior towards teachers that administrators allowed students to get away with, this is not any kind of revelation at all…
I hope your wife will be as happy in a different career as I am!!!
She keeps coming home with these stories that seem almost too outlandish even to be made up.
Last month she is handing out tests. One kid is wearing a baseball cap over a do-rag. She requires that kids turn their cap brims to the side or back so she can more easily see if they are cheating (and yes, they cheat ALL the time. She mainly just tries to keep them from being TOO darned blatant about it.) So she asks this kid to turn his baseball cap, and he responds “No.” Says he can’t do it because his religion forbids him from letting her see his hair. (Not sure what religion, but apparently it doesn’t have a problem with its adherents wearing caps bearing the word HUSTLER!)
She says she has no interest in seeing his hair, and is not asking him to remove his cap. He can simply turn it on his head. Or, if he wishes he can excuse himself to adjust his cap in private.
He refuses. So he didn’t get to take the test.
Astoundingly, the administration said her request and behavior was entirely appropriate in that instance. Even more astounding, the kid called her then next day to apologize, saying he didn’t really know why he behaved that way.
And I was hoping for my wife to be named in a religious freedom test case! Oh for the good old days when all she needed to worry about was an utter lack of critical thinking and writing skills!
We watched a documentary on teachers being bullied by students, and it was truly eye-opening. It sounds kind of silly to say that, but the reality is that kids have all the power, and teachers have almost none - all it takes to destroy a career (and possibly a life) is one kid to make an accusation of molestation, and that’s it. The teachers interviewed in the documentary were afraid of the students, some afraid for their lives. Some of the teachers were still teaching, but some had left the profession altogether over the bullying from students (and you could see how mad and afraid they still were). I don’t see how this situation can possibly lead to future generations of kids getting any kind of proper education (maybe from robotic teaching machines).
Maybe we need more nuns. I went to a Catholic high school, and I’ve never seen a nun get intimidated by…anything, really. The older and smaller they are, they more fearsome they become. Once saw an eighty year old nun who couldn’t have weighed 100 pounds if her nun-suit was dripping wet wade into a fight between two football players, bounce each kid off the nearest wall, then grab each one by the ear and drag them both to the principal’s office. Nuns kicked ass early and often. Of course, back then I rode a triceratops to school, and if you got in trouble at school, you got it double back at the cave.
It isn’t just teaching. One year on National Nurse Appreciation Day, my employer sponsored a day long seminar titled “* Abuse from your patient: How much is too much?*” Was the answer any abuse is too much? Nooo. The answer was, essentially, if it doesn’t cause you a trip to the ER, it’s ok. :rolleyes:
I’m a little curious what the article was about. Was it a political or social hot-button topic and what questions were asked? I’m wondering if the Dean is looking at it like it was a teacher engaging in proselytizing and is trying to sweep it under the rug. Feel free to link to it.
Assuming it’s just a normal assignment then the student should get an incomplete. Turning in a sheet of paper with an insult does not constitute an attempt to do it). I don’t know how that applies toward his final grade but it might mean he has to take the course again. You’re wife could read the response out loud and explain to the class (for instructional purposes) that this is an incomplete assignment and then hand the paper back with a big red I across it. She can tell them that while she is genuinely interested in feedback from the students this wouldn’t fly in court and doesn’t fly here. This gives the students a heads up in case they are assigned a group project. I had a group project that involved a non-participant and we explained that to the professor when it was handed in.
My advise is that your wife send an email to the Dean stating her case as to why she thinks security should be made aware of this. That will put the event on record and the ball in the Dean’s court. We’ve all seen the results of Virginia Tech’s mishandling of a psychotic student. Have her print out the letter along with a copy of the student’s paper for safekeeping.
does that apply to feedback to the nurses’ boss? I’m thinking a barrage of anonymous letters to his/her boss would be entertaining and cathartic if not enlightening.
Now man - the article wasn’t anything “hot topic.” I saw it but don’t recall what it was about. Probably some business deal or litigation that was recently in the paper. Nothing about freedome of religion, gay marriage, or anything. She just tries to find examples in the current media to suggest how the class materials are relevant to the real world - which can be tough as it seems very few of the students read anything or pay any attention to current political/business events. And the questions were just along the lines of “what is the contractual/regulatory issue as discussed in class.”
After he said, “That’s what I think of the assignment” he said something like “It’s a copy of a news article.” My wife did not know what he meant like that, and I don’t think she felt like finding out too much more as she had a test to hand out and monitor and he had essentially told her “F YOU.” Don’t know if he was upset by the content of the article, if he was too stupid to turn the thing over and see that there were questions on the other side, or (which I consider unlikely from a D student) if he was offering a sophisticated analysis of the merits of the assignment.
She talked with another teacher who has the same guy in another class and thinks he has “mental problems.” The other teacher was not at all surprised by the incident. My wife was. Sad he was a pretty poor student, but had at least seemed polite.
Business law is not that kid’s calling. Transfer him over to the Negotiation seminar.
Just so we’re clear, you meant “due the day before you posted,” right? Or did she actually tell them, “this is due yesterday”? Because that would be a little frustrating.
In all seriousness, your wife showed good judgment in stepping away from a stuation that could have turned violent. Especially since it sounds like the school might not support her if it happens.
Wow…I only had to call security once and they came right away. The student was removed and dropped the course. His crime was he was upset and wouldn’t shut up when I told him we would talk after class. However, I stopped teaching almost 20 years ago.
I did have a student show up to my office with a rifle once when I wasn’t there and he asked where I was. In his defense he was extremely melodramatic and unstable but I don’t think he would have shot me. The Dean of Instruction called the sheriff who showed up and arrested him and he spent some time in an asylum…but after those 2 things? I got nothin
Threatening behavior from a quite possibly mentally ill student is something to take seriously. I’d try either talking to security or talking to the counseling department (who I would expect have some experience with dealing with mentally ill students). F anyone who thinks that’s a bad idea since you know that moronic dean would be the first to say “We had no idea this was coming” if the kid did hurt someone. Even if the wife gets fired over it by this idiot dean, well, not a big loss from the sound of things.
