Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 2) txt msgng: trial by their peers It promised to be a pleasant evening— a usual excursion with the youth of our church. But little did I realize how “educational” the evening would end up being and the grim lesson I, as an adult in charge, would be forced to learn on the bus that night. One of the young people grew gradually louder and more disturbing as time went on. Every youth worker has encountered this scenario at one time or another, a young person who continually pushes and yet seems to get away with as much as he can, undetected, until the person in charge has to step in. me for having the gall to call him on his actions. The silent treatment was intended to be my scolding and his cell phone was the facilitator. Secondly, choosing to text message in response meant he would not have to squirm. By escaping into the texting world, he didn’t have to weigh his actions or endure, for any length of time, the discomfort of a guilty conscience. He picked up the phone and he was “outta there.” But the third, and perhaps most ominous element, that makes textmessaging worse than other forms of escape, such as putting on headphones and listening to a CD or cranking up the radio, is that the whole scenario can be immediately presented to a “jury” of the offended party’s peers. “Texting” is private, thus heightening the tempta tion to engage in unfavorable commentary. It is a whole new dimension in notepassing. While a case can be made for many positive uses of text messaging, its dangers for being used in the wrong place and at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons are clear. Making parallels between inopportune tex ting and the use of the tongue so strongly warned of in James 3 comes easily, as does relating the account of King Rehoboam given in I Kings 12:8—showing a proud ruler choosing the counsel of his peers over the counsel of wise experience. Now more than ever, we need to be instilling into our students the principles that will serve them in any communication medium. Brian Forrester is a freelance writer. Teacher to Executive Editor Dawn L. Watkins Assistant Editor E. Anne Smith Creative Director Elly Kalagayan Graphic Designer Kelley Moore Advertising Coordinator Kathy Johnston Photography Ablestock, pp. 2, 4 iStockphoto, p. 1 Stockbyte, p. 6 Teacher balanced perspectives in education © 2008 by BJU Press, Greenville, SC 29614-0060. Teacher to Teacher is published five times a year by BJU Press and Bob Jones University School of Education. U.S. subscriptions are free. All rights reserved. Send all correspondence and changes of address to Teacher to Teacher, BJU Press, Greenville, SC 29614-0060. 1.800.845.5731 www.bjupress.com t2t@bjupress.com This is exactly how the scene played out. But it finished very differently from the way it had for me in the past. This time, rather than meek ac ceptance, reluctant outward butnotinward compliance, or simple rebellion, I got in reply—text messaging. Had I realized then, as I do now, what was going on, I would have temporarily confiscated the offending party’s cell phone, but I was new to this phenomenon and not versed in the best way to respond. Cell texting, I now realize, had become this particu lar young person’s three pronged weapon of choice. First, by withdrawing im mediately without any verbal acknowledgement or apol ogy, he could “reprimand” page 2 Teacher to Teacher | March 2008 http://www.bjupress.com http://www.bjupress.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page Intro) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 1) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 2) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 3) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 4) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 5) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 6) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 7) Teacher to Teacher - March 2008 - (Page 8)
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