Education

In School or On the Streets, Belligerence is Deliberately Destructive

The impact of belligerence in the classroom or anywhere else in society is real and destructive

Published

2 years ago

June 7, 2021

Jeff Davidson

As Minneapolis, Portland, and Seattle experience renewed turmoil propagated by Antifa and other anarchist groups, I am reminded of a time many years earlier. While my daughter was in middle school and high school, and even after she graduated, I volunteered on ‘career day’ to teach in classrooms about being an author and speaker. Other parents in other professions did the same.

Constant Commotion

I eventually gave it up because, invariably, one or two of the minority students — African American — in each class simply could not sit still. These were 14 and 15 year olds, and this happened in 2014, in President Obama’s sixth of eight years in office.

Obviously in writing this article I could avoid citing their minority status. That might be deemed the ‘politically correct’ thing to do, nevertheless I’m duly recounting what led to my departure.

One certainly could engage in a long sociological discussion about their behavior and what prompts it. They would be disruptive, make one-line comments, sit on their desks, make noises, intentionally seek to distract me, and diminish the quality of interaction in the room. At 6’3″, and an athletic 188 pounds, I could have physically intimidated any of the disruptors, but I did not.

Elective Not Mandatory

These students were not forced to attend such sessions; all of these classes for career day were elective. Students signed up in advance for the presenter in the field in which they were interested, or at least feigned interest. In class, most students listened attentively.

Some asked serious questions. Many were thankful for the session. You could see the look of disdain on their faces when others sought to disrupt the class. It was apparent they had witnessed such intentional disruption many times before.

On this last time that I would volunteer in this capacity, and following my last session, I went downstairs to the school office. I told the vice principal and a secretary the reason why I would not return in the future and waste my time. Confidentially, the secretary told me that other presenters had shared the same experience.

The Progression to Belligerence

If I had been a full-time teacher, the unprovoked, continuing belligerence of some students would have changed my perception about the profession and about such students. How might I have reacted if the disruptors were Caucasian? I would, unquestionably, have been equally agitated. This didn’t occur, but it could have.

Was I naive in thinking that I could make my annual presentation and remain unscathed? Perhaps. Maybe it was a matter of time before I ran into such belligerence, but I don’t think so.

What happened was a progression: All students in my earlier years were polite. Then, in subsequent years, some disruptors began to emerge in small ways. Then, disruptors set about to openly flaunt classroom decorum.

At least subconsciously, the disruptors incrementally determined what they could get away with, in a variety of situations, without penalty. Undoubtedly, this was in motion long before I arrived on the scene. I surmise that they were constantly testing the waters – with substitute teachers, instructors, coaches, trainers, and any adult authority figure with whom they felt they might gain leverage.

To No One’s Benefit

Don’t discount the impact of belligerence in the classroom or anywhere else in society. It is real and destructive. Presently, municipal city police officers face constant war zone-like conditions in areas of high belligerence. Such intense, daily experiences have a deleterious effect on their homeostasis, well-being, judgment, and reflexes.

In that regard, U.S. police officers face more conflict than many soldiers in war zones and suffer the same type of traumas such as PTSD. One can’t help but wonder to what their daily, repeat-exposure to domestic war zones leads. Perhaps PTSD like symptoms are at the root unfortunate, fatal encounters in recent times.

Liberal Mayors and city-councils, in Democrat-run municipalities, who do not support their police forces, play a dangerous game with all of the citizens whom they were elected to govern. Squeamish mayors end up helping no one, and indeed, hurting many.

Only in Imagination

The media machine censors news items about those who act aggressively, but only in the ‘progressive’ imagination are police officers invariably at fault, and the array of perpetrators that they encounter are universally law-abiding and upstanding citizens.

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Related Topics:Breathing Space Featured Jeff Davidson

Jeff Davidson

Jeff Davidson is the world's only holder of the title "The Work-Life Balance Expert®" as awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is the premier thought leader on work-life balance, integration, and harmony. Jeff speaks to organizations that seek to enhance their overall productivity by improving the effectiveness of their people. He is the author of Breathing Space, Simpler Living, Dial it Down, and Everyday Project Management. Visit www.BreathingSpace.com for more information on Jeff's keynote speeches and seminars, including: Managing the Pace with Grace® * Achieving Work-Life Balance™ * Managing Information and Communication Overload®

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Education

Eight Dysphemisms to Start Your Week

A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive than the words it is replacing

Published

2 weeks ago

March 20, 2023

Jeff Davidson

A “euphemism” is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that might suggest something more bluntly or offend others, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. To say, for example, “He doesn’t have all his marbles,” is regarded as gentler than saying “He is stark raving insane.”

The Mighty Dysphemism

The opposite of a euphemism is a “dysphemism.” A dysphemism is a word or phrase that is more offensive, blunt, or harsh than the word or phrase which it is replacing. For example, instead of stating that the Manhattan District Attorney is “cognitively challenged,” you refer to him instead as a “total partisan whack job.”

For your amusement, at the least, here are eight dysphemism followed by the kinder, gentler, or at least more definitive terminology of what is being said:

“Biting off more than you can chew” – Orally extracting an amount of edible matter that exceeds what one is comfortably able to masticate.

“That’s a load of B.S.” – Your assertion reminds one of bovine excretion.

“Sh__faced” – Bearing an expression that one normally associates with the act of removing solid waste from the body.

“Can’t tell your ass from your elbow” – Unable to differentiate between your dorsal side orifice and the joint connecting your forearm and upper arm.

“Stepping in a pile of crap” – A pedestrian venture into an accumulation of animal or human waste.

“Go F-yourself” – Engage in the act of physical consummation with yourself.

“Up to your eyeballs in crap” – Finding yourself surrounded at the visual level by unpleasantly aromatic organic waste.

“Carnal knowledge” – Having a close encounter with another, free of garments and other impediments, leading to direct tactile stimulation.

A True Time Saver

Thank goodness for dysphemisms. In a most fundamental way, they are true time-savers. Without them, we’d be groping for tedious phrasing all day long. “Up your nose with a rubber hose,” if you don’t “catch my drift.”

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Education

On Listening Carefully for the Sake of Your Children

The decades long lack of African-American academic achievement is a do-it-to-yourself proposition

Published

2 weeks ago

March 16, 2023

Jeff Davidson

I attended a two briefings at East Chapel Hill High School (ECHHS) for the parents of rising 9th graders. All parents of eighth graders received the same invitation. The first session focused on what courses students would need to graduate from high school and to be prepared for University studies, technical college, or direct participation in the work force.

I listened closely. I found the information presented to be so vital, that had I not attended I would be unprepared to assist my daughter in course selection in any meaningful way throughout her time at ECHHS.

At the first meeting, the nearly 200 parents in attendance listened with rapt attention as well s evidenced by the many questions. Graduating from ECHHS with the new requirements would not be a cakewalk. The demands were rigorous.

The eighth grade children of many parents, however, did not attend these crucial meetings. Only one African-American parent was in attendance at the first meeting although the African American student population was more than 12%. At the second meeting where parents had a chance to meet and listen to school counselors, department heads, and teachers, about 275 parents attended, three of which were African-American.

All of the above occurred in 2004. Such poor attendance is another disheartening aspect of our society that bodes well for no one. To me, this spelled the future of America. In 2023 – today – the 13- and 14-year-olds represented by the parents that night are now 32 and 33, out of college and graduate school if they attended, car owners, possibly home owners, heads of families, and hopefully participants in the economic mainstream.

Those students whose parents didn’t listen in 2004 were the most likely to be unprepared at age 13 and 14 and all throughout high school, and the most likely today to be unprepared to be a part of the economic mainstream. Yet, someone will say that education Chapel Hill is unfair or sets students to fail, and that it rewards only certain groups and deprives others.

They will be among the first to rail on about some vague notion of “social justice.” They’ll say the teachers are biased or that the educational system favors whites and Asians. This is simply not the case.

The decades long lack of African-American academic achievement is a do-it-to-yourself proposition. It has nothing to do with CRT, biased teachers, or a dozen other lame excuses. In another 19 years – in 2042 – I wonder if anything, at all, will be any different. I wonder if greater numbers of African-American parents will take the time to listen to school administrators, teachers, and counselors who hold vital keys to the quality of their children’s lives.

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