At the beginning of my teaching career in the 1950s, one tenth grader turned in his first paper minus any capital letters or periods. I returned it immediately and told the young man that he had been taught correct punctuation of sentences for the past nine years. Therefore, I would not grade his paper until he wrote in sentences; and the zero would stand in the gradebook until he complied with my request. He presented his rewritten paper to me the next day and didn’t pull that stunt again. It’s one battle I won with those who always want to try a new teacher.
The students in that same class will celebrate their 55th class reunion next month. In preparation for the event, classmates have been invited to address, in writing, the topic, “The Days of Our Lives.” Not all, but some, have composed their take on the past half century. These essays will be compiled into a booklet distributed at the reunion. The participants have submitted life stories or poems - poignant, humorous, entertaining - I know because I was recruited to edit. What fun reading.
When I returned to the classroom in Wayne County in the mid-1980s, I specified from the beginning that the papers I would grade must be written in Standard American English. I would accept nothing less. My most important rule stated, “Write something worth saying, something worth reading.” In fact, it’s also a good rule for speaking and listening. If any of my former students are reading this column right now, they are thinking, “Mrs. D. is on language crusade again.”
I am.
The American English language is as alive and vibrant and prolific as the country itself. It reflects the growth, struggles, failures and successes of this nation. While usage of Standard American English respects the speaker, the listener, the writer, the reader, it does not curtail creativity. Some of the most innovative stories are as clean as they are clever.
Whenever students encounter questionable language within a classic taught in school, teachers remind them that while those of us who study language should refrain from using such ignoble terms in our own communications, authors may purposely chose sordid language to develop a specific character or setting or forward the plot.
However, utterance of vulgarities, profanities and incitements to violence for their own sake are the result of lazy thinking and thus lazy expression. Despite the money and fame that certain entertainers earn, spewing trash and disrespect for others isn’t art. And while a variety of folks want to blame the entertainment business entirely for the coarsening of today’s conversation, this source represents only a part of the problem. Certainly, it’s a real enough issue for homes, schools and churches to counsel their young about the words they choose speak.
Greater concern for us should be the present day political scene where we are confronted by would-be leaders whose rhetoric oozes with vulgarities, profanities and lies. I am reminded of the friend who criticized her mother-in-law as being ill with diarrhea of the mouth. And while such campaign talk has been prolific, it lacks the substance that true political exposition demands. Talk about setting the wrong example. How on earth do we explain this level of incivility to our young?
Turn on the TV at any time of the day and we are immediately confronted by the constant bashing of one individual or another. To add insult to injury, we are also seeing some who have belittled or have been belittled pledging allegiance to those who continue to denigrate the discourse even more. My head spins. Have I followed the white rabbit down Alice in Wonderland’s hole?
But as much as I deplore corruption of our beautiful language, I am far more appalled by the total disrespect these human beings show for other mortals, including the voters. We preach to our young that to be respected, they must first respect the personage of another. How do we teach them the dangers of cyberbullying, sexting, texting while driving when some who want to be leaders of the free world dis everyone and everything? Forget about intoning the old adage, “Do as I say, not as I do.” It never has worked with the young of any generation.
Perhaps this is the perfect time for all of us - both those running for office and those of us who vote - to remind ourselves of Matthew 7:12 KJV. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
The Golden Rule, from the Sermon on the Mount, is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.
2016
Comments