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Blog 5: Troublemakers (Argument)

Troublemakers written by Shalaby was written to put spotlight on the mismarking of 'misbehaving' children in the classroom. Shalaby advocated that children, no matter your background, have the right to freedoms. These freedoms included but weren't limited to the right to safety, the right to be treated as a human being, and the right to language and land. With this belief that many will agree with, she argues that education is one of the primary freedoms that children deserve to have.
     Shalaby explains that as well as education being a primary freedom, it also provides kids with a place to learn and exercise the freedoms that they undeniably deserve. However, schools tend to push back on this, creating a system where children are expected to be silent and obey social order rules rather than challenge them. All schools across funding gaps fail to teah their students their freedoms. While some very wealthy schools better establish individuality, students are still impacted by the tendency of grouping students. This grouping also effects these students when it comes to the violence they see, further taking away these freedoms they weren't shown they really obtained. These students are growing up to believe that only some deaths are tragic, only some lives matter, and only a few deserve relief from suffering. This acceptance sprouts from their lack of challenging systems and norms due to the punishment and shame that they would receive in return for it. Students are taught from a very young age that acts, even in the name of justice, will be punished.
     Shalaby discusses four students throughout the story, all with differing backgrounds, but all being marked as the troublemaker, impossible to work with, and the disturbed, by their teachers. Shalaby is attempting to turn the story over for these students and bring attention to the system being the issue. Teachers are taught that less-than-human punishments (such as humiliation, removal, and separation) are the only effective way to manage your classroom when students 'act out'. These students who are looking for change are instead being pushed away and having their education taken away as a punishment.     
    Shalaby used a student she had named Anthony, who loved learning but hated the schools restrictions that came with it. Anthony would, as a result challenge these restrictions with his behavior; being aggressive to other students, leaving the room, and other actions that come off to be disruptive. She felt that her age and qualifications gave her the power over him (which is a common thought shared by teachers) and that his success was dependent on his accepting that he was the one without power. However, Anthony's resistance continued. 
     Many teachers have struggled with this pushback from students, more than half of them saying their classes have a hard time falling into the school routine. A large portion of teachers who resigned marked behavior as a primary reason for their leave. Students as young as five-years old are expected to understand and accept social control when they are unable to. Schools demands are impossible for growig children who are naturally curious and develop at their own pace. Adults are very quick to correct children on the 'wrong behavior' that sprouts from an adults mind (who have accepted this power dymanic of adult-child) that covers kids natural desires.
     Teachers are dismissing the reasons as to why a student may behave in the manner that they do, but Shalaby aims to draw attention to it. She used a notible metaphore of these students being the canaries sent into the mines. She is hoping that people will be able to understand that these students aren't troublemakers, they are instead being the sacrifies for change so others don't have to be. They are ruthlessly pointing out the flaws in the system in hopes that somebody, anybody will listen to their cries and make a change for students. Here is a video on a school in Virginia and the system they created to improve behavior rather than punishing students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgP78z0WupM&t=237s

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