No One Left to Hate

After the tragedy at Columbine several schools and states have taken drastic actions in order to prevent further events from occurring.  Several laws/ordinances were imposed upon students to increase their safety and prevent future problems.  On the surface, they seem to work, but are they really fixing the problem?  The answer is no.  Students are instructed to respect one another and treat each other kindly.  Now what students are told and what they will do are two entirely different things.  Students have to learn to respect each other for their differences and their similarities.  How can we as educators teach our students to respect others?

            The answer is simple; we show them.  Students can learn many things through the examples of teachers or adults.  We need to take this into consideration when we expect our students to treat each other with respect and we do not necessarily do it ourselves.  This problem is addressed in Elliot Aronson’s book, Nobody Left to Hate: Teaching Compassion After Columbine.  He discusses that social learning through modeling in the classroom can be highly effective.  Students learn directly from their instructor’s actions and model behaviors that they have seen.

            Even though respect might be shown to the students, this does not necessarily mean that they give respect to their fellow classmates.  Respect can be earned through valuable class discussions and group work.  Students can learn how to treat each other and gain respect for others through discussion.  Once students can understand their fellow classmates and their beliefs then mutual admiration can occur.  The use of advisory programs can also help in the creation of these bonds amongst students.  These programs are tailored fit to address these kinds of issues in a school setting.

            Educators know there are programs and techniques out there to help students develop social skills; we just need to use them.  Lawmakers cannot solve the problems inside our schools.  They do not have the first-hand experience of teachers nor the educational knowledge to back their decisions.  Teachers know what to do; we need to stop being ignorant to the real problems and solve them ourselves.

References:

Aronson, Elliot.  Nobody Left to Hate: Teaching compassion after columbine.  New York: Henry Holt, 2001.  pp. 169-178