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Victimized Thinking

I have said and I have heard countless other say things like, "I learn more from my students thanI can ever hope to teach them."  Today I had an experience that serves as and example of how students can become the instructor.

Teaching summer school is rarely boring.  I teach makeup credit English and each time I have had some major revelations about all of  my students, past present and future.  This year has been no exception.  We had just finished reading an article about Anne Frank and our discussion  steered it's way into  a comparison of hardships today and back then.  Obviously  none of my students felt they had it worse than Anne Frank, but the conversation took an unexpected turn into a comparison of my generations's hardships  to the young people of today.

A young lady emphatically stated that because of the internet, social media and personal electronic devices their life was much more complicated and difficult than mine or generations before me was.  initially I agreed I can see how those things bring about problems I never dreamed of facing like cyber bullying, sexting, and the misuse of airdrop etc.  The lack of digital citizenship and digital footprint awareness is not only staggering but incredibly dangerous.  Mistakes made in youth can be forever viewed online by millions.

The day ended and I figured so did my thoughts on this topic.  I was wrong.  The young lady's statement stuck with me for several days until I was struck with this epiphany.  That young lady sees her self and her generation as victims of the digital age.  Her observations focused solely on the negative impact of technology today.  She saw herself and peers as helpless and unable to overcome the hardships inflicted upon them by the bombardment of digital input she faced everyday.

She did not mention the values of knowledge at her fingertips, ease of communication or the destruction of life's distance barriers and limitations.  It was 100% focused on the disadvantages and difficulties.  i wonder how many young people feel assaulted in the way she does?  How can we as teachers help shine a light on the lesser used and more positive aspects of out digital technologies?

This simple off the cuff comment and observation unknowingly made by my student is just one illustration out of the tens of thousands where the student becomes the teacher and unknowingly enlightens the instructor.

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