So after yesterday’s debacle when a student suggested that Pedro should slap Catalina for cheating on him, I changed the exercise for my second section of the same course to have Pedro cheat on Catalina.
“What can we recommend to Catalina?” I asked.
“She should just slap him!” a male student exclaimed. The rest of the group seemed as unruffled by the suggestion as yesterday’s section had been. What is it with this casual acceptance of domestic violence? My classes are turning into lectures on how it is wrong to beat people and how we can solve conflicts in civilized, non-criminal ways.
Clarissa's Blog 
My classes are turning into lectures on how it is wrong to beat people and how we can solve conflicts in civilized, non-criminal ways.
As a professor, you must be aware that many students come to college requiring remedial instruction. Try to think of it in that vein. It may help preserve your sanity and your faith in the human race.
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What is it with this casual acceptance of domestic violence? My classes are turning into lectures on how it is wrong to beat people and how we can solve conflicts in civilized, non-criminal ways.(Clarissa)
Really? Your government is about to blow the shit out of the Syrians. Do you honestly think the average person is going to bat an eyelash when it comes to a slap?
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I have to say, this is a brilliant insight.
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Umm, uhhh, thanks, I think. 😉
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What’s happening in Syria is, for many people, abstract. Dropping bombs on people they don’t know, and they won’t have to see it up close; it will be numbers to them. People bat an eyelash about murders or other violent crimes close to home, maybe more so when the victims are like them, when they read vivid accounts of the crime and see each victim as an individual and not a statistic.
Actually, I can see people rationalizing away a slap by saying, “Well, it’s not like KILLING the other person or putting them in the hospital…”
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There is also the easy “solutions” to complex problems aspect. Instead of dealing with “emotionally complicated situations,” violence is always the solution, when unsure what to do. Children are taught that approach in their families, and then apply it to politics too. So, it may be less Gov–>people connection, but people –> Gov one.
RE Titfortat’s comment about governments: I think people in power usually understand the complexity, but the way it’s given to the public is “X is bad, let’s get rid of X now.”
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Was this “should just slap” in English too? 🙂
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This is a much stronger group, so this one was in Spanish.
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