All the talk in Japan about classroom collapse, where teachers have lost control and students wander in and out, brings back memories of my junior high in the United States. There was no such thing as classroom collapse in those days. Instead, it was called normal.
From what I remember of my two short years in the public school system, the “classroom kingdom” would have been more appropriately labeled the “animal kingdom.” The classroom dynamics were very much in the hands of students who ensured chaos by running a secret society involving budding yellow journalists, gossip columnists, soap opera hopefuls and future CIA officials. Our society was knitted together through clandestine operations including hand signals, notes and test answers sent via hacking coughs.
How did our teachers deal with us? Through threats and warnings. Here are some famous teacher threats that ensured the classroom stayed in the hands of punks.
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