Blog 9: Troublemakers - Carla Shalaby

 Reflection

This reading connects with many of the ideas and arguments that we’ve read from authors in the past few months, which I really enjoyed while reading this. The author critiques the traditional view of school discipline and “challenging” children. I know I have talked about my experiences in elementary school a lot in class and blogs, but I truly recognized some of my own experiences throughout this reading. 

These somewhat unrealistic and often unspoken expectations in a classroom are difficult for young children to meet, especially those who struggle focusing for long periods of time when having to sit still, or those who cannot sit perfectly quiet and still for hours on end. When one of these classroom expectations are not met or are challenged, the child then is labeled as a troublemaker. Rather than critiquing these strict requirements, we try to force children into conforming into complaint workers, and when one doesn’t fit, we punish them.

I never really had any issues in school in kindergarten or first grade. I was excited about school, I loved learning and was full of energy. Aside from the usual comments in my report card about being a chatterbox and having trouble sitting still, I was overall regarded by my teachers
as a good student. However, things took a very drastic turn when I entered second grade. I’m not sure how it started, but I very quickly became a “troublemaker” in the eyes of my teacher. 

I think my hyperactivity sort of put me on this teacher's radar and I began to get yelled at often in class for not sitting still. Things very quickly snowballed into being singled out and being punished for almost everything I did, even if other students were doing the same. Every time I swung my legs under my chair, every time I talked in class, or was looking anywhere but at my teacher while she was talking, I was immediately punished. My desk was moved away from every other student and I was forced to sit on a yoga ball instead of a chair, and I remember feeling so embarrassed and like I wasn’t smart. 

I began to dread going to school in the morning because on top of feeling like I was going to get in trouble regardless of how hard I tried to be “good”, I was now falling behind because of how often I was sent to the office or sent to sit outside of the classroom, even if it was because I accidentally spilled my pencil case, because I was “lying and did it on purpose”. I questioned my own traits, like my honesty and my intelligence. I missed out on a lot of school and I really withdrew, which did not help my case by any means because it only led me to get in trouble more for not paying attention.

It wasn’t until the next school year with a new teacher that this all stopped, however, it had a lasting impact on my relationship with learning and school. It wasn't until I was maybe in middle school and was old enough to understand the situation I experienced in 2nd grade was likely due to having a younger teacher that hadn’t dealt with a student with ADHD. Kids believe the labels assigned to them by their teachers, sometimes leading them to engage in behaviors that support those labels, or teachers accosting any behavior they have with the label they assign them.

When a student is labeled, whether as a troublemaker, or even a star student, every single behavior they have is used to confirm this. A “bad” student is going to get in trouble for some of the things the “good” student will be praised for. Has anyone else noticed this? I found a podcast about bias in school discipline, there's also transcript of the entire episode, I felt that what they talked about with what their children experience related to "troublemakers".

Although this experience altered my view of myself and how I viewed school, I think this is one of the main reasons I decided to pursue a career in elementary education. I feel that the first few years of school form the relationship a child has with learning, and it's so important to help foster creativity and find students' strengths at this age.