As a teacher, this is a common phrase in my repertoire. I use it for several different occasions. It has different meanings depending on the different occasions.
When a child mumbles under their breath, it means “I dare you to say that out loud.”
When a student is mumbling to avoid talking in class it means, “Speak up!”
When a student has been corrected and answers with a “yeah,” “whatever,” or “OK!” it means,
“That is not the right response.” (The right response is, “Yes Ma’am” by the way… yes I am that mean, I enforce that kind of authoritarian behavior…)
When a student has Touret’s Syndrome, but purposefully uses the condition to swear out teachers (really, he has control over what he says, just not when he says it, but he likes to use as many obscene words as possible, including racist terms!), it means “Grunting, clapping, flapping and trilling are all outside your control, but when a certain B word is only used when I am in the room, and in my direction, you have control over what comes out of your mouth. Don’t call me that again.”
It is amazing how adept my students are at seeing each different translation. However it is sad when I see them recognize the message and blatantly disregard it.
When my father used to say those words to me I always knew what he meant too…
2 comments:
It s a real shame when its the teachers not the parents that have to force curtisy and respect out of youth today.
D.A.Harris
As a parent of two children with tourette's syndrome ...let me stand up and say ... HEAR HEAR!!!
(A. yes it is controllable, even if they need to substitute it for another tic.
B. LESS than 10% of people with Tourette's Syndrome actually have the tics that are obscene in nature!!!
C. Letting our kids with these disorders USE them ...only hurts them.
Thank you, Ma'am.
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