So today in class we had an exercise where the students had to read letters to agony columns and offer advice to the authors (to practice the Subjunctive.) One of the letters was by a young man who was jealous of his girlfriend (for absolutely no reason) and kept trying to prevent her from talking to or spending time with any other man.
What shocked me was that some of the students advised this man to spy on his girlfriend or follow her around without her knowledge. And these students were all male. They thought the advice was funny.
4 comments:
Did you ask how they would feel were this to happen to them? Were they able to imagine that? Did they think it funny still? Were there no girls in the class?
Not having ready access to young people, I'd like to know, if you would.
Thank you.
That's exactly what I asked them and it was obvious that they REALLY didn't want it to happen to them. Next time I'll create mixed-gender groups and see what happens. At this age, students mostly prefer to work in same-gender groups and that limits their perspective.
Thank you for taking the time to answer.
They're lucky to have you. I'd have rubbed red pepper in their eyes (and on their penises) while laughing at THEM.
What happens to girls and women on every continent is so far from funny, language is entirely inadequate.
I've been stalked at a certain point in my life, so I know how scary and unsettling it might be. The guy was so crazy he even followed me to another country when I was on vacation. Brrrr!
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