High school students speak with intolerance

Rachael Warecki, an English teacher at Locke Launch to College Academy 1, writes:

If I had to pick the most difficult lesson I’ve tried to teach -- aside from the daily "no, you may not use your cellphone/iPod/electronic gadget in class" lecture -- I’d have to choose the lesson of tolerance.

All of my 10th graders, like most teenagers, believe that they are the most important thing in the world. For half my 10th graders, however, this excess of ego also means that they abhor the idea of anyone who might be different from them invading their world. This manifests itself in various types of intolerance.

These students are homophobes, if one can be homophobic without truly understanding the nature of homophobia. They think nothing of using the word “gay” as an insult and don’t understand why straight people might be offended. They are also racist. Even though they say they’re “just playin’,” I’ve heard black students firmly assert that all their Latino classmates “don’t understand a word you’re saying, Miss,” and Latino students call their black classmates “stupid [N-word].” While I wait, silently, for my fifth period to calm down so that I can continue instruction, the student repartee usually consists of this:

Student 1: Shut up already! Can’t you see she wants to talk? You’re so immature.

Student 2: You shut up! Shut your big black mouth!

Student 1: Shut up, beaner! Go eat a taco or something! Go eat some beans!

Student 2: Well, you go eat some fried chicken! You’re just a black whore...

At which, point they’re usually on their way out the door with a referral in hand, because I’ve tried the tolerance lesson about three times and it hasn’t worked yet.

Most recently, I asked my fifth period to write the most hurtful thing anyone ever said to them on a piece of paper and put it in a box. I then gave every student a second piece of paper. I told them I was going to read the slips of paper aloud, one by one. For every painful remark that someone had ever said to them, regardless of whether it was the one they had written themselves, they were to fold their second piece of paper. I told them we’d finish the activity by crumpling up our papers, throwing them away and agreeing to treat one another with respect from then on.

I’d gotten the activity from a first-year colleague who said she’d had great success with it, but I should have known that my fifth period would be too immature to handle it. The “insult” I came across most frequently while reading those slips of paper? “Gay.” The sad thing was that my students actually believed that being called gay was the worst insult they could possibly suffer.

What’s even sadder is that when I tried to explain that using the word “gay” as an insult would be like making the words “black” and “Latino” derogatory terms, my students said they were used to the racial slurs. They honestly didn’t care if they were called beaners or N-words; they’d heard it so many times that it had ceased to affect them. Of course my students are going to use racist and homophobic language: An environment in which your own identity is so casually devalued is hardly an environment conducive to breeding tolerance of others.

That said, I don’t want intolerant discourse in my classroom. I want my students not only to treat one another with dignity, but to also refuse to let themselves be denigrated. But I’m at a loss for how to promote a more positive student dialogue. I’ve tried explaining that hate speech could get my students fired from future jobs, but that didn’t work. When I told them the story of Don Imus’ “nappy-headed ho’s” comment, they weren’t outraged -- they laughed. I’ve given detentions and written office referrals, but they seem to have no effect. I look at my 12th graders and the other half of my 10th graders, who are mature enough to know better, and hope that, with time, my third and fifth period 10th graders will grow out of it. However, if anyone has any suggestions about how to hasten their maturity, please let me know.

Comments

[AJ]

Leave Los Angeles! Kids in smaller towns and middle America are religious, honest and respectful. Lost Angeles is a LOST cause. I left teaching there years ago, and could not be happier.

[Ms. M]

Hey Ms. W!
This is great stuff! I did something similar with a counseling group. I know the population of students is hard to work with. However, it gives people a perspective on the types of obstacles inner city youth face and their realities. Unfortunately, we have people who prefer the easy way out, but this project is a challenge, if we can perform, then we can perform anywhere!
Many Props!
Ms. M!