There seems to be a distinct difference in those who ask why or question everything and those who believe everything they hear from one source. As a teacher, I face this issue on a daily basis.
We try and teach students to question and then research to find answers. The problems we face are either students are lazy and don't want to do the work or they are so ingrained with being perfect and untouchable, they refuse to look at the why question.
It is not just students who do this but many adults I see every day.
Students mimic adults. They won't admit to this and believe their thoughts are their own but they do. There is no greater feeling for me than when a student questions something in class and then brings evidence to prove their point, even when it contradicts mine.
The problem is the number of students who actually do this. There are not many. In many ways, they simply mimic the adults around them. It is correct because I say it is correct. I don't need evidence to prove differently.
I had a student announce to one of my classes last week the Covid-19 vaccine actually killed people. so she was not going to get the shot because she didn't want to die. When I tried to find out where on earth she had heard this, she couldn't remember and then corrected herself and said the news. When I tried to find out which news or what exactly was said, she couldn't remember.
I then explained to the class about the different vaccines, what they had found with the Johnson vaccine and why it was important that people have vaccines from the beginning. I told them about the vaccines that were required when they entered school and how I even had to go back and get an MMR shot when I was in college because I had no proof I had ever had measles, mumps or Rubella. I had all three but in order to stay at college, I had to get the shot.
It was then my class informed me they didn't have to do anything they didn't want to. They wouldn't get a shot because they were required to. They thought the rule was stupid and they would not suffer any if they contracted Covid because they were young and someone, somewhere told them it wouldn't kill kids.
How do I battle that? They aren't asking why. They have all been told since birth they didn't have to do anything asked of them because they were so special. If I have heard once, I have heard it a million times, "My momma or daddy says I don't have to just because it is required. It is my right to do whatever I want, speak however I want, with no consequences."
Every day I keep trying. Many will not learn until life jumps up and smacks them in the face. Many will take something a teacher said and learn from it. They will develop a curiosity about why. They will want to learn everything they can about how the world actually works. Some will never learn.
I hope teachers keep trying. I hope their natural curiosity will win out before life turns them in to people I don't want to know. Everything in life is cyclical. I hope we get back to the why of things..
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