Student denies ignorance

Here is a picture I came across whilst surfing the net.

I have no history on it whatsoever but it shows the terrible way in which teaching orders students to follow what they say even if it's incorrect. Mind you it is dated April 20, 1994.



The student corrected the teacher and he / she gave him a detention. Wow!

If anyone can provide any information or even verify this I would be interested.

I believe the student acted correctly even if he was defiant.

Peace,
- Naz

Probably a hoax.

Do a google search for 'detention for being right' and you'll get millions of hits. Some of the debunking that occurs is nonsensical, but you'd think if it really happened there would be some mention somewhere of which school it happened at...and I don't see any pages that mention it. No student name, no teacher name, no school name, no school letterhead visible in the image...no way to track it.

If that had happened to me, or one of my children, I'd have made sure teh whole world knew who the teacher and school district were.

Bucket Man

It probably is a joke, the date is 4/20 lol.

You just made that didn't you?

It is way to incriminating for it to be true. I especially liked the part when he said., "In the future he needs to take everything I say as the truth, even if it's not."

AAC

The validity of this case is certainly in question, but the message itself is loud and clear.

I can speak from personal experience, as many others, I'm sure. It is to be understood that the teacher is on a pedestal, while the students nip at their ankles. If he/she is to make a mistake, were to accept it or possibly correct them after class.

If a student makes a mistake in a statement, the teacher corrects them. They are corrected in front of the class and sometimes in an embarrassing manner. If the teacher makes a mistake, why are they not open to the same constructive criticism. I have always been vocal in my classes, probably to the point of a nuisance. If I believe something is wrong, I will continue to discuss it until I am satisfied. If I believe I am taking away from the class, I refrain of course, but I will approach the teacher afterwards.

I've had many teachers that were open to criticism. They would laugh it off if they made a mistake and applaud us for being aware. Although I have had some teachers that were very confrontational if we corrected them. Even if it was done in a respectable manner.

We never stop learning, its important that our educators are aware of this.

The validity of this actual case is irrelevant because we all know it has happened before, and it is a serious knock to our education system. We should not be taught to just accept the information in front of us, we should be taught to question it.

My one main concern with our education system is that the teachers we hire are not hired on ability. Tenure is the determining factor for teachers in my area, as I'm sure it is for most, and thats a negative. When I was in high school, I can remember a massive lay off. It was all of the best teachers that we laid off, and the school was runned down with older teachers who were not open to discuss anything.

A child in this situation deserves an award, not detention.

If that's real.... HOLY CRAP!

That teacher should be fired on the spot for an attitude like that. If it's true that is. Mind you, I used to get put on detention for some pretty stupid reasons lol.

The validity (or lack thereof) of it notwithstanding, I'm going to take the devil's advocate side here and tentatively side with the teacher. Of course, we don't know the exact situation, so it's hard to say one way or the other--maybe the teacher is a real jackass and the kid decided to stand up for himself.

At the same time though, I can very easily see a situation where a kid would have an utter lack of respect for a teacher, just on the grounds that it's a teacher. I've done it myself, for no good reason whatsoever other than the guy had the nerve to think his college education was better than the 11 years of public schooling I'd had.

I can too easily picture the teacher saying "A kilometer is longer than a mile," and hear some kid in the back of the class say "Shut the hell up hoser, you're an idiot." Then the teacher gets reamed for disciplining an obnoxious little punk who needs a good run in with a belt.

Still, a high school teacher should realize that most teenagers are going to give them a bad attitude. Throughout my high school career, the only teachers that the kids ever respected to any degree were the ones who expected a bad attitude and knew how to use it to their advantage, either playing along with it or by making examples of it.

Just my $.02...

Originally posted by chissler
The validity of this actual case is irrelevant because we all know it has happened before, and it is a serious knock to our education system. We should not be taught to just accept the information in front of us, we should be taught to question it.

I think this is purposeful. How else can they get away with 9/11 and other things? Because people just except the "official" version without question, that's how. We are taught in school to not question authority. That is wrong IMO.

I wouldn't doubt it. What the student did is called "insubordination" in schools,and,yes, you can get detention for it.

Originally posted by SpeakerofTruth
I wouldn't doubt it. What the student did is called "insubordination" in schools,and,yes, you can get detention for it.

If correcting a blatant factual error is "insubordination" then the world is screwed.

IF this was real, the teacher should be hung out to dry because they simply do not have the necessary skills to do their job, and the student should be commended for having enough power of conviction to stand their ground when they are right.

Originally posted by neformore
If correcting a blatant factual error is "insubordination" then the world is screwed.

IF this was real, the teacher should be hung out to dry because they simply do not have the necessary skills to do their job, and the student should be commended for having enough power of conviction to stand their ground when they are right.

I agree with you there; however, if correcting a blatant factual error with a blatant and overt disrespect for the person being corrected is to be commended, the world will be just as screwed in my opinion. It's very easy to correct someone politely and with respect.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find my transcript of this event, so I really can't say whether the student or the teacher were being rude to the other.

Originally posted by MCory1
however, if correcting a blatant factual error with a blatant and overt disrespect for the person being corrected is to be commended, the world will be just as screwed in my opinion.

Exactly.

You'll run across members on this site that come of as ignorant bigots. They'll defend their actions by saying, well I'm Denying Ignorance!

Ignorantly, Denying Ignorance is not the answer.

The one line that puts this over the edge for myself is,

Alex would be much better off accepting my teachings without resistance

That, in my opinion, is shameful on behalf of the teacher. To tell a child they should accept what is in front of them is wrong in every way. Question everything, decide for yourself what you believe. Don't let others make the decision for you.

But treating the ignorant with ignorance is a waste of time.

When i was in the forth or fifth grade, i had a teacher who told me that Abu Dhabi was not a real place, that it was made up, I even did a report on it but got a poor grade because i did not use the required World Books from the classroom to gather my information. Years later after I was in the Navy, I happened to pass thru Abu Dhabi and sent her a nice post card.

Where does he live? Because according to this source the length of a mile differs somewhere between 1 to 10 kilometers depending on the ''system''.

But in general, 1 mile is ~1,6 km?

[edit on 23/4/07 by -0mega-]

and calling this a hoax.

What school sends out a letter like this without it being on letterhead. The teacher doesn't give her class and times for a meeting, which is the industry standard, and it comes off in the most officious way possible, something a teacher is not likely to do with a parent.


Am I the only one in the class who says this is a fake, designed to elicit precisely those emotions that it has produced and thus highlighting our own fears of authority?

I question it's reality, and am saying that the emperor (or teacher in this case,) has no clothes.

.

If I would've gotten detention for every time I disagreed with or corrected any of my teachers in school, I would still be in detention (10 years after leaving school)

If what this note tries to portray is the mainstream mentality in US schools, It shows whats wrong with the US education system right there.

Teachers that don't like debate or don't like being corrected are not teachers and have no bussines being in a classroom.

Every good teacher I ever had promoted challenge, debate and thought in their class and every crappy teacher that couldn't get people to learn anything were the ones that had students sit there while he or she read the textbook out loud asif we couldn't do that ourselves.

Teachers need to teach, not read a textbook out loud.