Unlock with PatreonThe Problem with CI
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Questions
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4 thoughts on “Questions”
I have been thinking about your question all day yesterday and this morning and it has helped me to draw some of my own conclusions and answer a question that was in my heart but hadn’t made it to my head yet, so thanks. Here are my thoughts:
It seems ironic that Jim Tripp posted on this (sort of) recently. He wrote about violence in stories and it is very much worth the read.
http://www.trippsscripts.com/single-post/2018/02/17/Violence-in-Stories
*Please also read the first comment from Marc under Jim’s post. It’s is also very valuable.*
Especially this: …Just because the soap and shampoo have hatred and violent thoughts ( like many of our students) does not mean they act on those feelings; it is our opportunity to show them another way…
One time in my class we made a McDonald’s sweet tea (NC bumpkin presently speaking) that was addicted to sugar. Sugar’s not an illegal drug and literally almost everyone is addicted to it so it should be ok, right? But somehow, I felt something weird in my gut while we were creating this story and yet I carried on. There’s no moral here, sorry. I’m just thinking about how I felt during it’s creation and why I felt that way.
I’ve realized that for me, a mature adult that came from parents that didn’t abuse drugs…or me, that it was JUST a tea that was addicted to JUST sugar and I can separate that from a real life person who is addicted to a real life drug. But I’m afraid for kids that all that tea and sugar was a big metaphor. And I would HATE for my allowing this into my classroom to come across to a student as my condoning this behavior.
I don’t know how many times my kids have asked to make a red solo cup that’s at a birthday party and wants to play juice pong. Or a blue solo cup that’s sad because he doesn’t get to go to parties. Or a light switch that can’t get turned on. Like, they’re all but making air quotes. They come up with all kinds of stupid teenager stuff that is relevant to them because they are trying to figure out who the hell they are and they need help. I don’t want to be the one that makes them feel like going to a party and getting hammered is okay because I laughed at this giant metaphor that we made in class.
My final thought is for the kids that have seen horrific things happen that we don’t know about. Johnny heard a noise in the living room, went out to check it out, and saw that his dad had committed suicide. Jill’s mom overdosed on pills. God help us all and all our children, these have happened at our school in recent years. I don’t want to be the reason that memories of these things arise in my kids’ minds.
I think this goes for anything in that gray area (drugs, alcohol, parties, sex, violence,etc). I think if we have a weird gut feeling we should take that as a No. And then we’ll have fun and laugh at something totally normal and the kids will see that IT. IS. POSSIBLE. to have fun doing something other than one of the aforementioned activities.
Sorry this was so heavy.
I see it that way too and I also see it differently. As a former English Language Arts teacher, I hooked my kids up with all kinds of material in reading workshop…some was about addiction, violence, poverty, gang involvement, rape, racism, all kinds of stuff. In fact books with characters dealing with these topics FLEW off the shelves (and in many cases, never returned). Our world is full of harsh reality and kids are picking up on that. I cannot even imagine what their growing-up experience must be like. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my own childhood which was, by today’s standards, BOOOOO-RRRING. Like, so boring. No cable, no internet, no neighbors, just the woods and fields around my house in the middle of Nowheresville, Twiggs County, GA. Today’s kids have the real world in their face all the time and are dealing with a lot more than I was in my churchy country private school upbringing.
So, I would say for me, there is not a black and white on this. If it is in a spirit of compassion and humanity, I would have no problem, but if it is making light of addiction, I would be uncomfortable. I know many kids ARE dealing with addiction, either their own or a friend or family member’s. But there is this thing called bibliotherapy and it tries to hook readers up with characters that can be role models. So, maybe Sweet Tea kicks his addiction, and this is celebrated. Or maybe he dies of Type 2 Diabetes and this is mourned as a poor role model for us all. Maybe the one addicted to salt develops BAD hypertension. But begins an exercise and yoga regime and you know, a redemption story!
Mike Peto once said to me that OWIs and the Invisibles are vastly underrated. He said that the depth and variety of human experience that they can bring to the classroom, where before we were kinda stuck on one setting – funny, quirky, cute, and weird – he said that the depth he sees is refreshing. Brett Chonko has told me the same thing too. They have told some epic stories, let me tell you.
So, I would not rush to put my foot down on ALL the grittiness…as long as it is not, like, poking fun. It might HELP a kid.
I really, really agree with this. Ya know, the invisibles are usually inanimate things but there’s so much friggin humanity in these stories. I don’t think I realized the breadth of them at first and still don’t. I discover something new about them every day. Thank you for your response, Tina, and for some more food for thought.
When I was first doing OWI into a story almost TWO years ago!? I was uncomfortable with an OWI of a mirror. There was mention of it being hurt by its former owner. I felt uncomfortable going on, so we scrapped it. As a whole class, the dynamics and messages when creating an OWI with GOOD FLOW creates a sacred space/time. I told the students for it to be uplifting because that is the environment I want my class to be. Teaching is hard enough. When first training students for suggestions, I also coach them to suggest appropriate answers. There is a line AND a blurry zone. If I am uncomfortable, I tell kids “nope, not happening” and move on. Kids will push on limits they do not know are there… or ones they forget.
Tina you said:
“So, maybe Sweet Tea kicks his addiction, and this is celebrated. Or maybe he dies of Type 2 Diabetes and this is mourned as a poor role model for us all. Maybe the one addicted to salt develops BAD hypertension. But begins an exercise and yoga regime and you know, a redemption story!”
I use this technique via “Clase, un secreto!” I also tell students “let’s try that again.” This allows them to give appropriate suggestions too.
As far as reading hard subjects, I think that it’s different communicating with the whole class in a CI classroom. AS far as laughter goes, sometimes that is a way of dealing with things.
We can take it so many ways. I see stories as developing collaborative, creative and problem-solving skills. Sometimes there are failures but usually we go for the WIN!
I know i’m ranting!