Canaries in the Mine Reflection Post

Reflection Blog Post on TroubleMakers

After reading TroubleMakers by Shalaby, it really opened up my mind to the issues that surround schools even more. As someone who is going into education and hopes to become a second grade teacher, it is very important to understand the possible reasons behind a students behavior. The students that are so called "troublemakers" are often the ones who are dealing with personal issues or issues at home. When a child starts to act up it doesn't always mean that they are doing it for attention, it could also be a cry for help. Shalaby compares these "troublemakers" to caged canaries in coal mines which I thought was extremely brilliant and interesting. As Shalaby says "I want us to imagine their behaviors which are admittedly disruptive, hypervisible, and problematic as both the loud sound of their suffering and a signal cry to the rest of us that there is poison in our shared air" (Shalaby). Coal miners would use canaries to indicate whether or not there is carbon monoxide present since they would die first before a human being because of their sensitive respiratory systems. This same type of situation is repeating itself, only this time it is in schools and affecting students. Students that are in negative school environments are just like caged canaries in a coal mine. Instead of receiving the help that would benefit them, they are constantly reminded of their problems or getting in trouble which is unfair to them in the long run. School should be a positive place where students get to learn new things and play with others. Just like Shalaby said, "pushing them through time-outs and detentions that graduate to more consequential forms of exclusion over time, and too often medicating them into docility" (Shalaby). A school's environment can have a significant impact on a student's behavior in school and people need to become more aware of this instead of jumping to conclusions or putting their kids on medications that force them to become quiet and easily influenced. Yes, kids can be loud and obnoxious but they are kids and sometimes it is their only way of showing that they need help especially if they are very young and don't know any better. It is not a teachers job to push aggressions onto students no matter the situation. Every student should have a voice.

Possible reasons for misbehavior  

Reflection: I really enjoyed reading this text and found it very important, especially for those going into education. It gave me a new perspective on why a child could be acting the way they are and it opened up my mind even more to the issues that students can encounter in schools. I hope that I get to fix these problems one day when I become a teacher.