Welcome to Civility 101

townhall.com ^ | 1-5-2004 | Mike S. Adams

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[Agnes Heep]

First, a student came in class three minutes late.

It was incredibly rude for the student to have come in class, late or not.

[OpusatFR]

Back in the long-ago years, I had a couple of professors who would lock the doors and if you weren't there on the dot, you would not be admitted for any reason.

[King Black Robe]

This guy is so on target.

[JenB]

I was late, a couple times, last semester, because once I had finished my half-hour commute from work to school, the lazy on campus students had taken all the spots assigned to commuter students and I had to park in the boondocks.

There's occasionally an excuse for a late student. Not often. "I forgot to get up" isn't an excuse, nor is "Coach kept me late". "My muffler fell off", or, "I had to take the kid to the doctor"... maybe.

College enviroment has changed. I know several mothers who are attending school part time in order to get a good job, who carry cell phones in case their kid has an emergency. Most people are too rude, and it's wrong, but a blanket condemnation is not the right answer.

[RightWhale]

When it comes to students talking in the back of the room, there is nothing to compare with fellow students telling them to shut up. Some students are working hard just to be there.

[McLynnan]

I'm back in school after many, many years (more years than I want to admit to). What goes on at my community college is unbelievable. Many of the students show up when and if they feel like it. Not only do their cell phones ring, they proceed to carry on long winded conversations and act insulted if the instructor calls them on it. They bring complete meals to class. Sorry, I don't feel like smelling your Taco Bell chimichangas and burritos while I listen to a lecture. Some of them have brought their noisy children, then are angered when asked to remove them from the classroom. A few were incensed to find that the "6 unexcused absences and you're dropped" policy (which I think is very generous)was enforced, and appealed it with success only to continue with their personal policy of attending when they feel like it. In my core courses four of these students failed and are appealing because "they did the best they could". I will be angry if they are passed because it diminishes the hard work of those of us who took this seriously. The instructors are intimidated, sometimes with good reason.

[Atlas Sneezed]

College enviroment has changed. I know several mothers who are attending school part time in order to get a good job, who carry cell phones in case their kid has an emergency.

---

Vibrate mode? Text messaging?

[Poser]

I love it. I forwarded it to all of the faculty members in my department.

I tried locking the door at the beginning of class. It didn't work. They pounded on the door.

Now, I give a two question quiz at the beginning of every class. Question 1: What is your name? Question 2 is usually something like: What was the topic of your reading assignment for today? Students get one minute to finish the quiz and pass it in. Students who show up late don't even know there was a quiz until I post the grades online and they have a zero.

Cell phones are never a problem. I just stop class and stare at the person ringing. They are always embarrassed and it seldom happens more than once a semester.

The bathroom breaks during a test are more troublesome. How do you tell someone who probably has diarrhea that they can't go to the toilet? I write tests that don't lend themselves to quick glances at a textbook. I always tell students to go to the bathroom and ask them to get as much Kleenex as they are going to need for the entire test before I had it out.

My students show up for accounting tests without pencils or calculators. I have a little cash box and I sell new pencils for a dime before every test. I make a buck or two each year. It's amazing how many students will show up without a pencil or a dime. Out of 86 students who took my final this fall, 12 showed up without a pencil.

[Petronski]

Civility? F**k that!

[RightWhale]

it diminishes the hard work of those of us who took this seriously.

Don't feel that way. The prof knows who is for real, and fellow students who care also know. The rest of them are background noise, something our modern society is cursed with. All the way from the radio from the nearby (or not so nearby) car at the stoplight to people talking to themselves at the supermarket, it is something we have to learn to ignore. Serious students recognize each other if they look for each other. Look around. You'll recognize each other.

[JenB]

Well, Mr. "I deduct points if they even own a cell phone" wouldn't go for that, now would he?

But I'd say most of them probably do use vibrate mode. I leave my phone in the car. I don't like people being able to get me anyway.

[McLynnan]

Thanks. We recognize each other, but I still think it cheapens our efforts when what we work hard for is given away for free to others. There's a whole subculture out there living off Pell grants as an alternative or addition to welfare. They are in school because they can make money being students.

[Jokelahoma]

Most people are too rude, and it's wrong, but a blanket condemnation is not the right answer.

I don't know... I think a blanket condemnation of the lack of civility and common courtesy is exactly what is needed. That is not to say there won't be exceptions, but you discuss contingencies for those with the professor beforehand. If you're a working mother (or single father), you let the professor know that there may be times when emergencies arise with your children and you just can't make it, or may be late. You then try to establish a method of contacting the professor before class when and if those situations arise. During class, you set your phone on vibrate or mute so the ring doesn't disturb others, and do not take the call in class. If you see it is your child, you raise your hand, explain the situation to the professor, and ask for permission to leave the room to take the call.

Those situations are not the norm, however. All too often it's the unimportant call which interrupts the class. I happen to be an instructor who works for a company which markets wireless phone service. We are quite serious about cell phone etiquette. Phones are allowed in my classes, as they are part of the business, but they are on mute, and calls are taken in the hall. If a call is answered in the room, or more than a certain percentage of the class is missed due to phone conversations, being late, etc., the student is not passed and is required to take the course again, at full tuition. Since that comes out of the manager's budget, those phone habits are broken rather quickly. Now if we could just reach the rest of the world... :-)

I don't have any sympathy for your parking issue, though. Yes, the people parking in the wrong spots are rude, but you have to factor that in to your drive time. It's perfectly acceptable to plan to have to walk from the "wrong" parking spots, only to find that you get the "correct" spot and arrive a few minutes early. It isn't acceptable to not plan for that possibility and therefore be a few minutes late. If it's a 30 minute commute and you leave home 31 minutes before you need to be there, you're the responsible party. But then, I'm kind of peevish about those sorts of things. :-)

The only problem I see with this approach is that is usually relies on shame to produce the intended result, and since nothing is morally "wrong" any more, shame is nowhere to be found. Perhaps it can be brought back with civility?

Carry on, Professor, and more power to you!

[Centurion2000]

If your cell phone goes off in class, or if you are late to class, you must write a 2500-word paper (minimum) entitled “The Death of Civility at the Postmodern University.” In this paper, you will be asked to write about the decline of civility in our public universities in recent decades. Please note that if you are late more than once, or if your cell phone goes off on more than one occasion, your paper must be a minimum of 5000 words. If you have three separate transgressions, you automatically fail the course.

I like this teacher :)

[Cultural Jihad]

Thanks for posting BTTT.

[OXENinFLA]

And if she (sorry guys, it is usually a female) actually answers the call, she fails the course.

Dead On!

[JenB]

I don't have any sympathy for your parking issue, though. Yes, the people parking in the wrong spots are rude, but you have to factor that in to your drive time. It's perfectly acceptable to plan to have to walk from the "wrong" parking spots, only to find that you get the "correct" spot and arrive a few minutes early. It isn't acceptable to not plan for that possibility and therefore be a few minutes late. If it's a 30 minute commute and you leave home 31 minutes before you need to be there, you're the responsible party. But then, I'm kind of peevish about those sorts of things. :-)

Your response would be valid, if not for two things: my school schedules all the classes I need in the middle of the day. I have to leave work to go, and then come back and work. I then make the time up in the evenings. The extra ten minutes doesn't seem like much on one end, but when it's 9 pm and I have an essay to write for the next day, I want to get home.

I have literally spent thirty minutes circling the parking lot looking for a space because there is literally nowhere to park. It's a very small school, the commuter lot holds maybe 300 cars. And when commuters are not allowed to park anywhere except the commuter lot, that's frustrating... my problem is that I always leave work ten minutes before I really think I have to, because I don't like being late. But I spend twice that trying to park. They sell us parking tags at $30 a year, the least they could do is make sure we can park!