Maslow’s hierarchy of needs famously claims that safety is the second out of the top five human needs. Interestingly enough, Hannah brought up the exact words that she does not feel safe in her classroom. “Because of the students or the teachers?” “Both,” Hannah replied. “The students exclude you, and the teachers get on you for dumb stuff but not the important stuff, like when people are being mean.”
As many roles as teachers have to play, a referee is usually not one of the most preferential ones. Not only is it unpleasant, most teachers don’t have time for it. When the students are having social time, the teachers take it as a few precious moments to catch up on their work. However, I would argue that the teachers should listen in, monitor, and model positive conversation for their students. If we want to build a community in our classroom, it has to be consistent. During social times such as lunch, during class, during breaks, respectfulness must be enforced at all times. Much of the bullying could be stopped with a little more prevention. Kids will be kids, but they are less likely to engage in belittling conversations when a positive role model is listening in.
The school environment could also feel unsafe because of the amount of risk involved academically. “One of my teachers threatens to give you a detention when you don't put parentheses around your final math answer. If you breathe wrong, they'll kill you, basically," Hannah added with a roll of her eyes.
I know the importance of classroom management, but strongly oppose flat-out tyranny. Punishment for a wrong answer or a momentary forgetfulness about classroom procedure (I know if I had to work a math problem on the board, I would be so paranoid about getting the right answer that I would barely be able to get an answer to begin with, much less remember to put parentheses around it!) A tyrannical classroom shuts students’ brain power right away. There might as well be a “no learning allowed” sign posted in the classroom, because learning is taking risks. In this type of classroom, students don’t want to share ideas. They cringe when they are called on to work a problem on the board. They are afraid to ask questions. “I’m afraid they'll put me down and make me feel stupid. My teacher makes me so nervous. I'm afraid when she calls on me because I'll probably say the right answer since I'm nervous. When I ask questions, sometimes she acts like it's a dumb question, and sometimes she doesn't, which confuses me." Basically, the classroom is volatile and unpredictable. The last thing a tumultuous middle schooler needs.
We all have bad days. We all have moments when the alarm clock goes off and we want to toss it out the window because we were up all night grading papers. But, the mood of the teacher sets the mood of the entire classroom. Ever heard the expression, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy?” Same principle.
Although the teacher is highly responsible for setting the tone of his or her classroom, there is an underlying fear among middle schoolers simply because of their developmental level. That fear is looking stupid. "I feel like I can't say anything in class. They'll think it doesn’t make sense.” Beneath all of this is an intense need to be accepted. This problem will always be there in the back of middle schoolers’ minds, but again, enforcing a community environment will help. They need to be able to take academic risks without being threatened. Be able to throw out ideas without the fear of being shut down. That’s how they will eventually become comfortable with themselves, and that underlying fear of looking stupid to their peers will slowly diminish.
“How could teachers improve this safety issue?” I asked Hannah in conclusion. “Be not scary," she replied in a sagacious tone.
“How could students improve this?” "Accept you."
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