Troublemakers

 October 6

Troublemakers

Throughout the preface and introduction of "Troublemakers", points are brought up about how schools do not teach freedom but rather promote confinement and capitalism. We are being taught that only some lives matter and to prioritize some over others when we need to be taught all lives are valuable. We need to teach love and learn freedom. We shouldn't treat children like animals by giving them time-outs every time they speak when told to be quiet. 

"Troublemakers" focuses on four students who are seen as the "troublemakers" by their teachers and how we should listen to them to see what they can teach us instead of punishing them. Teachers are taught to punish and hush loud students who are seen as disruptive. I can relate this to a lot of my earlier education. I have always been a "quite kid" in school and for the most part I believe this was because I was taught that that was the ideal student in a classroom. While I also have anxiety and typically don't like talking in front of groups, I would find myself nervous to speak at all, specifically to a teacher. After reading this, I started thinking a lot of that nervousness and fear was because we are taught to never disobey or speak up to a teacher and have been shown the repercussions. Over the years and in high school especially, I've had a few teachers who encouraged individuality and problem solving even if it did not fit their typical lesson plans or curriculums. This began to help me to see it can be beneficial to speak my mind instead of keeping silent and that not all teachers react the same way or have the same mindset. I think it's crucial that we do better as teachers to not instill fear in our students.

 It is clear that the point of this text is to argue how we need to listen to the children who stand out and who cause disturbances by not following rules instead of punishing them, but I am curious how specifically we are supposed to handle it. How do we successfully help children feel heard without disrupting other children and without them feeling isolated or punished? I'm interested in what the rest of this text offers as solutions.