Where Is That Rising Tide Anyway?

When I showed my journalism class Shattered Glass a few weeks ago, I didn't expect that it would serve as an inspiration. Guess I should've known better.

My last day of class was spent nailing two students for plagiarizing and another for, well for just making the shit up. I don't know what this kid was thinking and as usual it was the cover up that led to the student's demise. The student tried to be smarter than necessary and tripped up.

The other two were just lazy. Both took shit from other sources without attribution, which is something I have explained numerous times is unacceptable. One of them lied when asked if they had conducted the interviews in their story. When I pulled out the article where the material was lifted the student did a complete turnaround claiming they mean to attribute it and forgot. I then had to point out that they had just lied but furthermore that this was a journalism class and the idea was for the students to go out and do reporting, not just lift shit from other places, attributed or not. The usual blank stare looked back at me.

The other kid was just an arrogant jackass. When I said that the interviews in the article weren't done by the student, said student replied, "I didn't say they were." I had to explain (yes with blood somewhat boiling) that it is certainly what he implied and then noted that when one reads an article in a newspaper and someone is quoted in it, it is the reporter who got the quote unless otherwise noted. He pleaded ignorance to which I said, a)bullshit, b)when you go to the toilet do you need to have someone tell you to raise the cover before you take a piss? and, c)you're smarter than that.

Rather than spend my last class trying to have fun, I instead spent it explaining to the class that while they thought they were getting over on the school, the exact opposite was true. The school could give a shit if they learn as long as the check clears, but one day you'll be out in the real world and the shit you pulled off here is not going to fly. I was probably out of line but hell, someone should say it. Of course, I doubt it penetrated any of their text messaging, Ipod listening, ADD suffering brains.

I know I could've and should've approached the class differently once I was aware with what I was dealing with there. I didn't fully grasp that college had become the new high school. Of course, if that's the case where I was teaching was a middle school. I would have gone to the bare basics. I also should've been tougher out of the box. It is better to start tough and then soften if the students are with you than it is to start soft and try to toughen up.

And for anyone else thinking of going down this road, never teach a class scheduled for Friday afternoons. That was my bad. My one smart student told me that if the class had been on Wednesday as originally scheduled, I would've had much better students. Sad, but probably true. I guess the one good student almost made dealing with all the others worth it. Almost.

Today, I read, is the 25th anniversary of "A Nation at Risk," a report on our educational system that warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future." From where I sit, a rising tide of mediocrity looks pretty good.


Almost.