Twerking Suspension

By: Fedor Gaponenko

A group of high school kids have been suspended for making a YouTube video clip of twerking. For those who don’t know twerking is a hip-hop dance style that involves a lot of hip and bottom shaking.

While the dance may be inappropriate it doesn’t seem that it should warrant the suspension of 33 San Diego high school students. These students may also face being banned from prom, commencement and other school activities as part of the overall suspension, ABC 10 also reported.

I can imagine students being suspended for drugs, fighting, bullying, and skipping class and other harmful behaviors, but being suspended for inappropriate dancing video seems a bit over the top.

I’m not supporting their behavior or saying that such dancing should be allowed on school grounds, but what lesson does this suspension teach? Wouldn’t it be more productive to gather the students and talk with them, explain why they shouldn’t have made this video?  

In my opinion the video is a lot less harmful than other activities high school students can engage in. These students could easily be under-age drinking, doing drugs or having unprotected sex, making a video with provocative dance moves seems like it should be one of the least of worries for a public school.

If there’s a lesson to be learned I hope the students and faculty learn it, but hopefully the suspension is over quickly and they don’t get banned from other school activities. 

Learning Takes All 5 Senses

By Fedor Gaponenko

Have you ever been asked what kind of learner are you? Are you a visual, hearing or hands on learner? This is a common misconception amongst the general public that people are different kind of learners. The truth is everyone learns with all five senses, in fact the best kind of learning is done when all five senses are involved.

Yes it’s true that some people tend to lean towards a one sense more, but ultimately even they will learn the most if they involve all five.

In schools most kids are using two of their sense the majority of the time, hearing and seeing. They are either listening to their teachers lecture or watching they’re videos and presentations. These are two very effective ways of teaching, but they can often bore the creative mind of a young student.

Schools need to start incorporating a lot more hands on activities in their teaching curriculum. Students need to be able to touch, taste and smell what they are learning about not just see and hear. Not only will this improve the learning of the students, but it will also help them stay interested and on task. 

Stop Blaming the Teacher

Stop Blaming the Teacher
By Fedor Gaponenko

I came across this meme and it struck me just how much truth it really contains. It wasn't too long ago when an F on the report card meant grounding or maybe a whipping back in the day. Now it seems that the child is left off the hook and the teachers take the tongue lashing.

As a parent it’s natural to be protective of your kids, but it is also the parent’s job to raise them with respect and a sense of accountability. What does it teach the kids when the teachers are the ones to blame for their short comings? How will kids respect their educators if they know their parents don’t?

Teachers have to go through years of education, testing and constant training to be able to teach kids. They do their best to be fair and help everyone’s children succeed.

In order to get a really low grade in public schools you have to be extremely obnoxious and completely ignore your assignments and class work. If parents want their kids to learn, take school seriously and grow up with a respect for others they will take appropriate measures to discipline them instead of blaming their teachers.