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Troublemakers

     In the preface and introduction of Troublemakers, it talks about how schools often prioritize control rather than giving students freedom. Instead of valuing every individual, students are taught that some lives matter more than others. What we really need is to teach respect for all lives. Children shouldn't be punished or silenced for expressing themselves, as is often the case when they are reprimanded for not following the rules. Students miss out on valueable learning time when they are sent out of the classroom.


    Troublemakers is about four students who are labeled as “troublemakers” by their teachers, Instead of punishing these students, the Shalaby argues that we should listen to them, as they have valuable lessons to share. Teachers are trained to silence disruptive students. During my younger years of school, I was a very hyper and talkative child who was often reprimanded by my teachers for being disruptive. I also struggle with ADHD, which was a significant contributer to my behavior. I constantly had to sit out during recess for my behavior and publicly chastised in front of my peers. I found these to be very embarrasing and had a hard time with my peers because I was seen as "annoying". Even though my report cards always showed me doing well in my acadmeics, I always recieved comments of being "too chatty". This led me to become much more reserved in school and I conformed to being a quiet student. I have been lucky to have a few meaningful teachers who taught in ways that brought me out of my shell again and made me interested in learning. Teachers are the core of our education and have such a big impact on shaping the people we become. It's important for them to use compassion rather than discipline as you never know what a student is going through. 


Comments

  1. Edward smithMarch 3, 2025 at 11:20 AM

    Hi Ashely. You mentioned how some teachers publicly chastised you about being disruptive. I was one of those kids in school too. It made think that possibly some teachers who have been in the field for a while, or new teachers, may have forgotten how students can feel in situations like these and how it can negatively affect them.

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  2. MakenaMarch 17, 2025 at 11:50 AM

    Hi Ashley! Even at Webster Avenue I saw kids having to sit outside their classrooms and after reading Troublemakers I was like wow this still really does happen. I see kids in my class get remanded all day for talking. They are 5. This teacher is teaching them to be quiet and not have opinions. She also singles out people all day and the kids are scared of her. This is not how teaching should be.

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