Reflections on being a disruptive child

How I accidentally suspended an underperforming teacher.

A few nights ago, I watched a movie called ‘Won’t Back Down’. It’s about two parents taking over a failing school, to create a better education for their children. This was a case study for a class on ‘Leadership in the Social Sector’ at Cornell University.

The movie triggered a memory I had long forgotten…

It was a time where I ‘accidentally’ suspended an underperforming teacher.

It was Year 7 of highschool. I was 13 years old.

I had recently been admitted to an ‘academically selective’ high school. Of course, my parents were quite happy.

A few months in, I received my first report for the school term. I opened the report to see 5 ‘C’ grades. I hadn’t been studying much, but even I was quite shocked by my grades…

Turns out all those small assignments actually counted.

As a result, my parents decided to enroll me in after school tuition classes. Once a week, I would spend my Saturdays at Tuition Centre X (not the actual name). Those afternoons were some of the most boring afternoons of my entire 6 years of high school.

In particular, I dreaded the English class —because the teacher literally regurgitated points from the textbook. He did not even attempt to engage the students and simply recited from the class notes provided.

I also knew my parents were paying between $50–$60 each afternoon I spent at Tuition Centre X.

A few classes in, we were learning about persuasive pieces — ‘essays’ and ‘expositions’.

As usual, I found the class dry and began zoning out very quickly. I always hated wasting time, so I decided to give an essay a go. I tried to think of a topic I could argue for — something that I believed in.

Before knowing it, I started writing about ‘Why some teachers should not be teaching’… (I know, it’s blunt — but it’s the title I used, to my best memory.)

At least I was putting what I was learning into practice! It wasn’t like I was learning anything from this teacher anyways.

Upon completing the piece, I looked up. My teacher didn’t even notice I wasn’t paying attention in class. To be straight — he did not appear to care about the students.

Now, I had an essay in my hands, with no particular intention. I remember turning around and nudging the girl behind me to read it.

She immediately validated everything I had written!

That sparked something.

I decided to sign my name at the bottom of the essay.

Then, I passed it to the girl and asked her to sign it. One thing led to the next and it began circulating across the classroom. I think by this point, the teacher noticed the students were getting distracted — but he still didn’t seem to care.

Just a few minutes later, it was signed by almost every single student in the class. There was only one exception — one girl signed with a smiley face instead of her name. She was afraid of getting in trouble.

When the class ended, my bold younger spirit walked up to the teacher and ask him to read it.

‘Can you read this?’

After reading it, he left the room in silence.

Some of my friends confronted me and expressed their shock that I had showed it to the teacher. There were still several weeks left in the term…

After leaving the classroom, I walked downstairs to the reception desk and handed them my ‘essay’. Then I headed home.

A week later

I went to class, not knowing what to expect.

First came the math class — same as usual.

Second came the English class — but something changed…

A new teacher walked in. This teacher was different. He brought the class to life with stories and discussions.

I later found out, he was the head of the English department for Tuition Centre X.

To be honest, I remember being surprised that they acted upon a student’s feedback so quickly.

That day, I realised that students can suspend teachers.

Reflections

When this memory surfaced, I was incredibly surprised by my own actions. I couldn’t believe my own fearlessness as a kid.

Perhaps it was the naivety that we all had as children. Perhaps I was just a disruptive child — but I was simply doing what I believed was right!

Looking back, I am certain it was the right decision to raise my concerns (Although, I could’ve been more subtle).

So why do I hesitate today, when I wouldn’t have as a child?

I believe as children we’re all naive, curious and audacious. We weren’t afraid to voice our opinions and fight for our beliefs.

That is, until we get ‘slapped’ by the world for our apparent ‘disobedience’. This backlash from society is so common in today’s world of structures, expectations and ‘rules’ that have accumulated over centuries.

We often don’t realise we live in a world of ‘relative truths’ and accidentally mistaken them for ‘absolute truths’.

Absolute truths are fixed, inalterable and grounded in reality e.g. …gravity ensures your pen will fall if you drop it (on Earth at least).

Instead, relative truths appear to be the ‘absolute truth’ (reality) for certain groups of people. It could be something like ‘the teacher is always right’ or ‘always obey your parents’ or ‘you must have good grades to be successful’. Over time, these relative truths can become subconscious ‘rules’ that govern how we behave and operate.

Many of these ‘rules’ (relative truths) simplify society and improve the way we live. However, sometimes these same ‘rules’ can be out-dated in the 21st Century and have the detrimental effects of restricting us…

As we grow up, the world tells us to accept things as they are. We’re taught to let things be, stand in line and stay out of trouble. As a result, we begin to lose our childhood curiosities, beliefs and dreams…

So imagine, what if we could recognise these ‘rules’ and question things fearlessly like we once did as children?