Teachable Moments
Monday, December 19, 2011
Collateral Damage
It is amazing to me that people can take loaded guns to a military base, a beauty salon, a school, a political gathering, a school campus, a place of employment and even on the streets of Hollywood!
There is deep seated anger, generally, for one or two people in these scenarios. The perpetrator is willing to risk the lives of innocent victims to achieve his/her goal of getting revenge against the intended target.
Not only do these extreme and deadly acts impact the life of the intended victim, it also creates collateral damage for the people associated with the target, in the vicinity of the target and/or related to the target!
The same is true in the classroom...
When teachers yell at a student, humiliate a student, embarrass a student, ridicule a student, reprimand a student...it doesn't just impact the target student, it also affects the students in the class and potentially the attitude, demeanor, disposition and self-esteem of the student and his/her encounters with other students, teachers, administrators and members of their family.
As educators, administrators, social workers, parents...and other related connector to students, we must be very careful that our words and our actions do not cause COLLATERAL DAMAGE.
There is deep seated anger, generally, for one or two people in these scenarios. The perpetrator is willing to risk the lives of innocent victims to achieve his/her goal of getting revenge against the intended target.
Not only do these extreme and deadly acts impact the life of the intended victim, it also creates collateral damage for the people associated with the target, in the vicinity of the target and/or related to the target!
The same is true in the classroom...
When teachers yell at a student, humiliate a student, embarrass a student, ridicule a student, reprimand a student...it doesn't just impact the target student, it also affects the students in the class and potentially the attitude, demeanor, disposition and self-esteem of the student and his/her encounters with other students, teachers, administrators and members of their family.
As educators, administrators, social workers, parents...and other related connector to students, we must be very careful that our words and our actions do not cause COLLATERAL DAMAGE.