mind-numbing
I stumbled into the teacher's lounge this morning to hear this conversation between a social studies (SST) and a language arts teacher (LAT)* that went something like this:
LAT: "How is Fox news biased?"
SST: "Are you kidding? They don't tell the news in an objective manner. You know what 'objective' means, right?" (no sarcasm in his voice)
LAT: "Yeah, I know what 'objective' means." (no sense of insult)
SST: "Well, look at all their stories on Bush."
LAT: "But how does that mean they are right-wing?"
... [successfully tuned out for the next few lines] ...
SST: "...network evening news."
LAT: "They're all liberal. They never spend more than 30 seconds to tell the story. They never tell more than one side to the story."
SST: "They don't have time."
LAT: "Yeah, but ..."
Here's what bugs me: This should be the kind of conversation you hear among thirteen-year-olds, not their thirty-year-old teachers. I would hope that in 17 years of education and life, people might even argue about the same topic but with a bit more sophistication, justification, and, well, a point. It may as well have been an argument about whose dad can beat up the other's.
Am I being too harsh?
*It really shouldn't matter what disciplines they teach with regard to who is saying what. Except that it's a bit of an embarrassment to both disciplines.
posted by Jessica @ 6:19 PM
7 Comments:
More teachers like you.
Less teachers like them.
Yeharr
be glad they knew what objective meant.
I agree it sounds like a 13 yr. old's argument. Unfortunately I've also heard many similar comments out of my mother's mouth, and she's 70! She has always been republican and I can understand for the life of me why she won't look at the issues affecting her, rather than maintaining her republican label.
You're not being too harsh. I can't believe the SST said, "They don't have time." If it's really important news, there is always time.
Unfortunately, I hear the same conversations happening between the PhDs I work with.
I think we've all heard these kinds of arguments. Regardless of education, I think many people are afraid to appear to be know-it-alls so they unintentionally and probably out of habit dumb everything down. But you're right, it is quite sad that teachers and PhDs seem to feel that way too.
The debasement of ideas.
no you are not being harsh.....
another example of why parents should be active in their childrens education
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