By MARCIO DOS SANTOS*
BBB shows that the ability to relate socially in an assertive way has been facing serious problems
1.
Last week I came across two situations that made me lament human nature and question what is happening to the fundamental ability that we all have to socialize, to try to live in a diverse world, respecting the respective differences, social, economic, religious, etc. The first of these occurred on Monday, March 24, when a student of youth and adult education – and here for ethical reasons I am hiding her name – felt wronged when I changed the date of presentation of a work for bimonthly evaluation at the last minute.
She argued that she was only present in class that day for the presentation, that she had spent the entire day in the hospital and that changing the date of the presentation would not be right. I immediately put myself in the student's shoes and, although I had prepared a class on an issue that I considered more urgent, I acknowledged her protests and told the student that she was authorized to present her work and follow the presentation schedule, imagining that this would solve the problem.
I was surprised when she refused to present her work and left the room, and probably even the school, indignant. Soon after, I heard about the conversation the student had with the school administration, saying that she wanted to cancel her place. I understood much less and all I could think about was the issue of: “taking poison and hoping the other person dies”. At that moment, I understood that the problem was much bigger than it seemed.
A few weeks ago, at an ATPC meeting, a school principal began talking about the problem of teacher absence and student dropout. When I raised my hand to try to understand what the cause-and-effect relationship was, or what academic work the principal was basing this relationship on, she simply replied, “Just a minute, dear,” and continued her monologue until the end of the meeting.
Last week, approximately 20 of the 90 education directors from various departments lost their positions, as we can see in the report on the O Globo website. With the next election in mind, the Tarciso administration has seen education as a possible showcase for the upcoming elections. The pressure for results comes from the top down. Sometimes it is the directors, sometimes it is the principals, and they hold the teachers responsible, but it seems difficult to see the issue when we question the state government's own education policies.
Tarcísio de Freitas and his education secretary Renato Feder have turned public education in São Paulo into a platform. There is a lot of bullying and abuse of power in schools by people who are in leadership positions but who can return to the classroom at any time, since most of the principals in our schools are appointed.
2.
O Big Brother Brazil is an realty show Brazilian broadcast annually on the Globo network at least since the early 2000s. As reported by the website EARTH, on Monday, March 17, the program recorded an average audience rating of approximately 17 points. The factors that determine the number of households and people who watch the program and that correspond to each point vary, but on average, as observed on the portal TV News 1 rating point on January 2023, 268.83, now means 717.088 households, or XNUMX individuals. Even with the loss of audience from traditional media to the internet and streaming services, seventeen rating points still reached a lot of people.
But what do the student who felt wronged by the sudden change in the date of the presentation of her work, the school principal who assumed private ownership of the word and BBB have in common? It seems to me that the ability to relate socially in an assertive way has been facing serious problems, and not exclusively because of the global program, but for several reasons, leaving here a brief observation about the “reality” which for the social good, still does not find a similar one in Brazilian social reality, perhaps for a short time.
It is not my intention to minimize the level of cognition of Brazilians or of people who consume this type of product, but we need to face some facts that seem disturbing to me. On March 17, therefore a Monday, which recorded the highest audience ratings for this edition of the program, the segment presented was the infamous “honest” where the participants attack and offend each other, all telling the “truth” and showing that they are not “afraid to take a stand”.
It is important to note that there is no room for consideration in this program; the goal is to attack others and be attacked. The name of the program forgets that being sincere does not mean being offensive. Why can't the participants use their sincerity to praise the fraternal and friendly bonds they have achieved on the program? Why does the program's logic have to be about fights and intrigues and not about good relationships between the "allies" in the game?
The logic of “the more trouble, the better” and “I’ll tell the truth even if it humiliates you” has spread everywhere. The community has turned against the school. I have often heard the school secretary insult someone who, in the exercise of their function, is only serving the community. If it weren’t for the fence that separates the public from the professional, I imagine that the conflicts would end in a more violent manner.
A few days ago, a parent, angry with a teacher, argued with him during class time, pointing his finger in the teacher's face and repeating that "He earns much more than him and that the school is a dump." This is something that we teachers are used to hearing. The student who, outraged, started an argument over the change in the deadline for submitting her paper, was not ultimately interested in resolving the problem, but simply in expressing her indignation.
If it were the other way around, I would have understood that the problem was solved the moment I abandoned my plans to work on the issue that I considered pertinent at that time and decided to respect the presentation date. In the culture of “I attack because I’m right”, “Shut up because only what I say matters” or “you have no place to speak” or worse “I’m just making a fuss because I’m like that”, we are losing an important evolutionary skill: socialization. The question remains: who is interested in a society in which individuals engage in a fight of all against all?
*Marcio dos Santos is a history teacher at the São Paulo Department of Education.
References
GOMES, Karolayne, NEVES, Manoella and PEREIRA, Deriky. The power of digital influencers over consumer society through Instagram. Intercom. XXI Congress of Communication Sciences in the Northeast Region.
https://noticiasdatv.uol.com.br/noticia/televisao/saiba-quanto-um-ponto-no-ibope-vale-from-1-jan-2023-95141 https://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/pac/v7n2/v7n2a01.pdf
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