http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iflIOklflrg
Give that kid an award. And the a Nobel prize – Alana Mayfield (Top comment on video)
Many of us know a bad teacher. They may be non interactive, unpassionate, unfair or maybe a mix of all these traits as they educate students with a lack of vigor and seriousness in their work. Jeff Bliss a senior student in Duncanville High School, Texas, rants on this pressing topic as he openly speaks out to his teacher, on her dispassionate and unfair teaching style.
According to an online interview by RetropolitanCotton, Jeff Bliss had asked his teacher why their class did not get as much time to finish their world history test as other classes. The teacher then replied to Jeff by saying “Quit B****in” (A part left out of public media for obvious reasons), and that’s where Jeff snapped and made his speech, unknowingly being recorded by a fellow classmate in the process.
Before this video, Jeff Bliss was not the greatest student. However as a former drop out, he realized how important his education was, which may have led to this eventual speech in this video, in addition to the teachers apparently ignorant behavior.
Jeff Bliss has not had any repercussions yet from the school board, nor do I doubt he ever will with the public support on him. Right now he is being seen as somewhat of a hero, standing up for something that other kids usually wouldn’t have the guts for. Even on the YouTube comments, there are unified statements of people supporting Jeff which by the way, is a rarity with all the trolls out there.
( yep…)
If I met this guy I would personally give him a handshake, a pat on the back, and a simple “well done” as I really feel like he did a good thing. Although the school has made a statement that Jeff could have expressed his concerns in a more “calm and appropriate way”, I think he made his approach perfectly as with his lecture on how teachers must touch students heart, Jeff’s speech has really touched mine. Although some people found the speech aggressive, what really mattered was that he said something that had to be said, in the face of an authority figure that has a responsibility for their students education.
This story may remind youth about their hardships with bad teachers. As a student myself who is familiar with the bad teacher, the hardest part is struggling to learn, and how you can’t talk back to them because of their status as the almighty teacher. Students who do talk back to their teacher usually don’t fare well, which is one reason why I thank this rant being public.
There is another perspective to this. It is often assumed that teachers salaries are limited. Could this be a reason why certain teachers take their job less seriously? There are also students who are ignorant towards their studies, further making the teacher apathetic. However I would argue that a teacher must be passionate in their work, in order for their students to do the same.
After this encounter though, I suspect the teacher in question probably has a lot to think about. May this video hopefully inspire other teachers and students on the importance of education.
Thanks for reading!
On a side note, I truthfully think the best teacher is Onizuka (Anime reference). My other favorite was my old Social Studies teacher who basically said that a factor in Napoleon’s conquests may have been rooted by Napoleons unpopularity in military school, which may have been a factor in his personal ambitions (people made fun of him for being short so he got angry I guess ._.). I learned more from that class than any other class that year.
