The Cult of Inaccuracy

You've seen it: A boy, sometimes a girl, but mostly a boy, walking down the street. His baseball cap is on sideways, he is wearing an untucked oversize t-shirt (usually with a grimacing Mac Dre on the front of it) that reaches down to mid-thigh. Then you notice something way out of whack. Even with the enormously oversized t-shirt, you can still see this kid's back pockets. They seem to be almost even with his knees. All this is finished off with a pair of $200 basketball shoes, usually unlaced. Unfortunately, this has been the style of dress of a good number of our youth since about 1995. I thought it would go away quite a while ago, and it pains me to say that it hasn't.

Author, Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld, has a name for this manner of dress, and the usually slovenly manners, speech, and academic performance that often accompany it: the cult of inaccuracy.
According to Dr. Blumenfeld, the refusal of our youth to do anything accurately can be tied to the current faddish teaching strategies in our nation's schools. If kids aren't expected to read, write, spell, or speak accurately, then why should they dress accurately?

As a teacher, sagging pants is probably my biggest pet peeve - that and the gold teeth, called "grills", that I see more and more black boys sporting. I have yet to see a boy of any other race but black wear these grills. When that changes, I will be the first to let you know. I think what bothers me the most about these sagging pants is where the style comes from: prison. These boys are emulating and romanticizing a style popularized by the scum of our society. That's not exactly the role model you want your kids looking up to now is it? What further bothers me is the fact that I don't really want to see these boys' underwear as they clumsily walk to class, holding their books with one hand, and their pants with the other as they try to keep their pants from falling down as they walk. Would you really want to spend your life with your pants in a constant state of nearly dropping to the floor? I understand cops want this style of dress to remain popular with perpetrators, as you may be able to walk in sagging pants, but just try running in them!

I know it is like trying to empty the ocean with a bucket, but I will continue to tell students on campus to pull their pants up. It is a violation of our school dress code, and even if most of the other teachers have given up, I won't. Some might look at this as being petty and a waste of time on my part, but hey, we all have our hobbies; this is one of mine.

Good Day to You, Sir (and please pull up your pants)

The Infantilization of our culture

I have used this term before in previous posts, and I thought I would take a few moments to expound upon the subject with a few examples that I have seen during my time as a teacher and as an adult. What I mean by the infantilization of our culture is that I have noticed a disturbing trend at almost all age groups whereby people act less mature than they should. Don't get me wrong; I love how many baby boomers in their 50s and 60s refuse to hobble around like little old men and ladies like our wizened citizens of generations past. What I am talking about is immature behavior by some of our younger generations. A few examples:

1. I teach at a middle school. I notice that many students, both male and female, wear backpacks that are way too young for them. I see 7th and 8th grade girls with backpacks adorned with Dora the Explorer and Strawberry Shortcake, and I see 7th and 8th grade boys wearing Spongebob Squarepants backpacks. When I was of middle school age, my friends and I would not have been caught dead wearing something that my 3 year old niece would go ga-ga over (she loves Dora the Explorer)
2. The final time I went trick or treating during Halloween was when I was 11 years old, and even then, I felt really self-conscious about it. Once I reached middle school age, neither my friends nor I would have dared gone trick or treating. That was "kid stuff", which after elementary school simply wasn't done. Now? Last Halloween, my wife and I greeted high schoolers at our door, dressed up and trick or treating like they were still 8 years old.
   
3. The intentional misspelling of words. This is one of my biggest pet peeves of this whole hip-hop garbage: Boyz, thugz, tha, Timbaland (instead of Timberland), ya self, wit (instead of with), gangsta, gurl, fo shizzle my nizzle, ad nauseum... Once upon a time, being grammatically correct and a good speller was something that people strove for. Now it is a sign of being an uptight chump. When I was doing my Today in History feature with my students not too long ago, I read to them about when Al Capone got convicted of tax evasion. Many kids had never heard of Al Capone, so I told them that he was a gangster in 1920s Chicago. Many kids laughed and tried to correct me - "Mr. Chanman, it's not gangster, it's gangsta." Uh, no kids. I can guarantee you that Al Capone never referred to himself as a gangsta.
4. The younger generations intentionally dress themselves as inaccurately as they spell. I have talked about this before too. Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld came up with the perfect name for this phenomenon: the cult of inaccuracy. You can spot a cult member by identifying some very telltale signs: sagging pants that are four sizes too large, t-shirt that is five sizes too large, shoes untied, baseball cap cocked upward with the bill turned sideways. Please, wear the cap backward if you must, but for all that is good and holy, don't wear it sideways.
5. Were it not for the wrinkles, I have sometimes had difficulty distinguishing a mother from her daughter as they were walking together. We know that many middle school and high school age girls dress like prostitutes nowadays. What is really disheartening is when you see their nearing-middle-age mother dressing the same way. I always wonder if it is a chicken/egg scenario. Does the daughter dress like that because her mom does, or does the mom dress like that in the hopes that her daughter will like her more for attempting to look hip?
6. The discontinuation of dressing up to travel on airplanes and trains. Once upon a time, people dressed to kill while traveling. Now they just dress in whatever. We have lost much of our formality in society, and formality is a mark of maturity.
   

I am sure that I could think of some more examples, but you get my point. I am glad that some things have changed. I am happy that many men have eschewed the old father/son relationship where the father refused to put down the bowler hat and watch fob and actually play with his kids. But for goodness sake, Moms and Dads, please don't forget to instruct your sons and daughters that there is a time and place to dress up and to act in a mature manner. And never forget that you are not their friend (at least as long as they are kids), you are their parent.

Good Day to You, Sir

Here's somethingy that bugs me very much

Teaching from year to year, I often notice unique trends that pop up in my classroom and on campus. It can be an article of clothing, a knick-knack (like those infernal teck-decks), or a catchphrase.

This year, I have noticed an extremely annoying tick enter the vernacular of both my 7th and 8th graders, and that would be the inclusion of the word "thingy" that is tacked on to the end of a sentence's subject. A perfect example happened this morning when a student who was absent yesterday asked me when she could make up yesterday's quiz. And how did she ask? "Mr. Chanman, can I come in after school and make up that quiz thingy?"

Or how about the other day, when during a lesson about the Bill of Rights, one of my 8th graders raised her hand and asked a question. "Mr. Chanman, you know that Constitution thingy? What is the difference between an article and an amendment?

I noticed the use of "thingy" so much last semester that when this semester began a couple of weeks ago, I made a point of warning my students against the use of it when I spent the first and second days reviewing rules and procedures.

The act of attaching "thingy" to the subject of a sentence is yet another way for the younger generation to perpetuate the Cult of Inaccuracy that was once described by Dr. Sam Blumenfeld and written about by me in a post from a couple years back. It is a way to tone down any chance of sounding interested in an academic subject. By adding "thingy," it seems the student is trying to give off an air of subtle anti-intellectualism that is so derigeur among today's youth, in order to let her fellow students know that she isn't too invested in the subject at hand.

I know it may seem petty for me to let something like this bug me, but I love the English language and I hate to see it mangled.

Good Day to You, Sir