Mainely Middle
Journal of the Maine Association for Middle
Level Education
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Volume 10, Number 1
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Too Scared To LearnSharon returns from recess and slinks to her seat near the rear of the room. Her downcast eyes and slumping shoulders tell you that something has happened to reduce the usually cheerful student to one near the brink of tears. When you try to find out what is wrong, she sniffs and says, "nothing." As the afternoon progresses, you notice that Sharon is having difficulty understanding how to find the area of the geometric forms she has made on her graph paper. Knowing that this is a task that should be easy for her, you again inquire about what is bothering her. This time she asks to speak in the hall and in a flurry of tears and sobs admits that a group of boys has been teasing her and she is afraid she will see them on the way from school. Sharon has experienced the most prevalent form of school violence. She has been threatened not with a knife or gun but with words. Today's headlines are often filled with stories of catastrophic school violence. When teachers are asked about school violence, they point to the shootings, vandalism, physical confrontations between students, and verbal abuse of teachers (Shen p.18). School districts are preparing to deal with the aftermath of various large-scale disasters. What students fear in their schools late little to do with high profile acts of violence. Peer harassment and intimidation especially in the form of name-calling is often so widespread that no one is safe from being targeted. At the middle level, especially, the verbal persecution is found to be illogical and random. Students consider making fun of others as normal behavior (Shakeshoft, et al p.22) When asked about the prevalence of this type of harassment in my school, 73% of my sixth graders said that they have been called names and over half have admitted to being a name-caller. Those most frequently taunted are girls who are considered unstylish, girls who are more physically developed than their peers, boys who are not interested in athletics, and boys who refuse to join in the name-calling. These target groups abound in any middle level school. We have heard most of derogatory names that students call each other. The names usually have sexual overtones, often reflecting homophobic tendencies. Even with zero tolerance policies, the abuse continues out of earshot and staff members are only made aware of the problem when verbal abuse becomes physical. This harassment makes students fearful of riding the bus, using the restroom, and sometimes coming to school at all. Every day, verbal harassment makes it difficult, if not impossible, for students to learn. As educators, we always suspected a link between strong emotions such as fear and the ability to focus on learning. Recent studies of human brain function give concrete reasons why this occurs. To understand how fear restricts learning, we need to understand the triune brain theory of Paul MacLean, former director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health's Laboratory of the Brain and Behavior (Caine, p. 57). According to this model, the human brain functions on three distinct levels governed by three systems. These systems work cooperatively to keep us alive and allow us to process information about the world around us. The most basic part of the brain controls automatic responses that are highly resistant to change. The R-complex or reptilian brain is responsible for survival responses such as the operation of the digestion, respiratory and circulatory systems. It is also the part of tire brain that controls the flight or fight response. This was the first part of the brain to develop on the evolutionary continuum. The limbic system or leopard brain was the second evolve. This is the place in the brain where our centers of emotion are located. It includes the amygdala, which associates emotions with events, and the hyppocampus, which is linked to memories of sensory information. The most recent part of evolution is the neocortex or thinking brain. In the terms of today's technology, it is the central processing system. It allows the brain to carry out logical processes, plan ahead, and process and use language, and is what allows humans to learn. When a real or perceived threat from taunting, intimidation or physical violence occurs, the response can be drastic. If the threat gives a person a feeling of helplessness, the brain will do what is referred to as "downshifting" or moving stimulus response from the thinking neocortex to the emotional limbic system or the autonomic R-complex. This is a psychophysiological response that is made chemically within the brain by the reticular activating system (RAS). The RAS acts as a switch that is either on or off depending on whether a person is stressed or relaxed. The greater the threat and feeling of helplessness, the faster and deeper the downshift. As a result of downshifting, students who perceive a threat, such as being bullied, will not be able to focus on schoolwork because the brain will chemically hut off impulses to the neocortex. The more automatic responses of the limbic system and R-complex take over and there is often an emotional or fight/flight behavior seen as a result. Students who are in this situation cannot be expected to learn when the learning part of their part of their brain has been chemically shut down. These responses can also occur to a lesser degree. Students experiencing stress of a lower level may appear to have difficulty moving through new material or completing complex problem activities since the limbic and R-complex can process only what is familiar. New information must be processed in the neocortex. If downshifting has occurred, this cannot happen. The current brain research shows that there is a real need for children to feel safe both during school hours and afterward. If we are hoping to teach them how to succeed academically, the first step is to take the stress out of the situation so their brains can function in the neocortex. We cannot go home with the students and solve problems within their families we can be supportive. We can make our schools safe havens rather than places where students like Sharon experience situations that create fear. Sharon's problem is very but it must not be overlooked. The harassers must be confronted and dealt with. Often, those who are name-calling have realization about how much harm they are doing. Students are feeling threatened at, school, on the bus and on the playground. We, as educators, need to take these threats more seriously because they are very real to our students. There should be a zero tolerance level for name-calling because that, is where most of the problems start. Name-calling and intimidation often go on because students feel helpless to stop them. The equation is complete: threat + helplessness = downshifting. Learning becomes impossible. |