Author’s Thoughts for the Movie Dangerous Minds

My Thoughts on the moving-picture show Dangerous Minds which was ( genuinely very(prenominal) loosely) adapted from my book My Posse Dont Do Homework. This was written in June 2007 in response to an email from a grad student Thank you for contacting me for foreplay instead of just utilize what you find on the Internet or other resources. Let me be clear I speak up Dangerous Minds has its good points it inspired a lot of kids to stay in schooltime, it inspired many people to rent their dreams of becoming teachers, and it inspired the brilliant song, Gangstas Paradise. I just heed that people would re eachyize its a movie and not real life when they write ab come out of the closet me. I had very little input to the movie and much of it is fiction, at times so far remove from fact as to be ridiculous. My students never called me white bread for showcase I had only one rule in my classroom and that was wish yourself and the others in this room. I didnt disrespect my students and they didnt disrespect me. The producers couldnt believe it could be so simple that if you treat kids with genuine respect, they may not love you immediately, solely they get out learn to respect you.I used rap lyrics to seat lessons about poetry (not a DylanDylan contest). Instead of a silly contest, we wise(p) to write and analyze various forms of poetry, beginning with songs and ending with Shakespe aran sonnets. Yep, they in reality liked them, too. I never threw fecal matterdy bars at my students to spark them I boostd them to eat healthy foods. I didnt fight with my administrators all the time it was my principal who gave me the support and encouragement I needed to drive an effective teacher.So, I would simply ask that you view the movie as a movie and not as a reflection of my personality, education techniques, teaching philosophy, and definitely not as a reflection of my office toward students. I didnt teach for one semester and then try to quit I taught i n the at- risk program for five years, starting as a part-time teacher and ending as a full-time teacher and department chair -and then I went back to grad school.I agree with Bulmans contention that the movie industry seems to imply that white materialistic people can walk into a ghetto and save the children. Thats a very very simplified version of his theory. merely I would argue that whether the insurgent teacher is middle-class, white or dense, male or female the primal is in that persons penury. If you believe you are superior to any(prenominal)body and you are passing to save them, they will resist you, even if they are drowning, if they didnt ask for your help.But if you truly respect and accept other people as they are, and your motivation is to encourage them to develop their talents and skills to pursue whatever goals THEY return set (or encourage them to set goals if they gain none), then they will be interested in what you have to say. People focus far too m uch on race, gender and money when they should focus on heart, soul and intention. Its been my experience that when you have self-destructive or apathetic students, instead of trying to teach them lessons, you will make much more progress if you try to find out what they think of themselves.And when they have negative perceptions, you tell them what you see a tonic perspective that they cant see themselves. If this is an honest communication, it will change the way they think of themselves. Instead of thinking of themselves as hopeless, powerless, stupid, lazy, or whatever they have been taught or told to think they begin to see themselves as human creations, separate from the school system labels, human beings with talents and abilities that will be valued by the world, if they can just survive school. Thats enough.Im writing you a book Sorry for being so long-winded. Oh, wait, I take that back. One more thing. I dont think the Hollywood film makers are intentionally perpetuati ng stereotypes and simplistic plot lines. I think in some cases they genuinely believe their stories, in some cases they are trying to create a feel-good story to attract an audience, and in some cases they just dont have a clue because they never attend public schools and their worlds are so insulated that they believe whatever expert they have hired.I was told, for example, when I protested the racial stereotypes in Dangerous Minds (all black kids are raised by crackhead single moms, all Hispanic teens are gangsters because their parents dont care, black parents resent effective white teachers), I was told in a very haughty voice that the gangologist on their staff assured them that their movie was an hi-fi depiction. I laughed myself silly before I cried.