What's in a Name?
by Brian
Culp, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis
Words
can inspire a thousand pictures. Words have the potential
to incite, divide, unite, create, and effect change. As a
teacher educator, I often engage my students in discussions
about the classroom environment and issues of safety and social
growth. In recent months, I've started more than a few conversations
regarding how to maintain the integrity of environments for
activity and play, particularly as it relates to the topic
of verbal pollution.
Verbal pollution refers to the use
of words and comments that the majority agrees are offensive
and damaging (Fisher, 2008). Today we frequently see these
comments and values communicated through music, television,
cyberspace and other forms of media and technology. Verbal
pollution undermines the promotion of successful outcomes
and has implication for our practices.
Through our upbringing many of us
in our have been conditioned to ignore verbal pollution. If
we don't it gives the impression of weakness. Unconvinced?
Consider one of the most frequently quoted English language
idioms: "Sticks and Stones will break my bones, but words
will never hurt me." This rhyme, reported first in 1862,
encourages a child victim of name-calling to ignore taunting,
refrain from physical retaliation, and to remain calm and
good-natured. But in today's world, this well-intended phrase
is both untrue and hypercritical.
I believe that verbal pollution is
a huge reason for the increase of bullying in today's schools.
With bullying, aggression usually includes repetitive behaviors,
an imbalance of power between the parties involved, and an
intent to harm the other person physically or emotionally
(Fuller, Gulbrandson & Herman-Ukasick, 2013). Traditionally,
the physical aspect of bullying gets most attention because
the results are immediate and obvious . Verbal bullying remains
an area not well well defined. In other words, one student
giving another a black eye in a fight is a lost easier to
respond to than when a student calls another a bad name on
the playground.
Regardless of how educators think
about the power of words, schools and places where physical
activity takes place mirror our society and culture. Whether
explicit through the creation of rules and regulations or
implicit through the hidden curriculum, values are transmitted
to students in schools. It's assumed that these values will
help socialize students into becoming productive citizens
who will positively contribute to a democratic society. Obviously
then, it's vitally important for schools to create and maintain
an appropriate climate where students are free from being
verbally marginalized.
It's unsettling to be reminded of
sobering past events, but April 20th of this year marks 15
years since the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton,
Colorado. This is not the place to rehash debates about who
or what was to blame for this tragedy. However, since the
incident, one issue discussed at length was the verbal harassment
prevalent among students in the school for a number of years
and the failure of teachers and administrators to proactively
address these tensions.
Columbine is just one sad reminder
that educators should be diligent in identifying and mapping
out specific strategies for decreasing verbal pollution beyond
listing mere rules such as "Respect one another." From my
experiences I've found that verbal pollution is generally
conveyed through words and comments that are focused on one
or more of the following:
- Sex - comments, gestures, actions or
attention that focuses on a person's appearance, body parts
or sexual orientation.
- Ability - comments,
gestures, actions or attention that denotes a perceived
individuals’ deficiency or lack of skill.
- Ethnicity or Race
- comments, gestures, actions or attention that range from
the ill-considered to deliberate. These include remarks
on skin color, manner of speaking, ethnic grouping, or religious
and cultural practices.
- Economic Status
- comments, gestures, actions or attention that is indicative
of a focus on an individual's economic status. These remarks
often equate a person's value with their economic and social
standing.
- Profanity - words
that are generally considered in society to be impolite
and offensive. These words debase and imply strong emotion.
Studies over the past few decades have theorized that these
types of verbal pollution are commonly linked to eating disorders,
low self-esteem and efficacy, and depression. Verbal pollution
can also affect our students' motivation to learn and the
effectiveness of our instruction. What then are appropriate
strategies for educators to consider to reduce verbal pollution?
Here are some suggestions:
- Be aware and get educated - verbal pollution
can take place anywhere. If observed, intervene immediately
to stop it. Simply, if you hear something, say something.
Follow guidelines to document such behaviors and pay attention
to trends.
- Be sure that you are setting
a good example - students, participants, and athletes
may look to the person in a leadership role as a model for
behavior. Teachers must set the example for behaviors they
want their students to emulate. Our words should be as good
as our deeds.
- Challenge offenders
- challenging offenders to explain why they are using derogatory
statements or words can cause them to reflect on why they
incorporate such language. But refuse to enable offenders
by letting them use common statements such as "it was
only a joke" and trying to minimize the situation.
- Examine your classroom
practices - examine your instructional environment
and plans, lessons and activities to determine whether or
not you promote a climate of respect and cooperation. Often,
verbal pollution occurs because of the creation (whether
intended or not) of hierarchies. People often bully because
they don't perceive everyone as equal. Collaborative classroom
activities may work better than ones that identify winners
and losers.
In ending, I'd like to further elaborate on the specific
points of (a) the importance of staying abreast of current
trends, and (b) engaging in critical examinations of issues
as they happen. In recent months, the National Football League
(NFL) has discussed the use of the "N-Word," written here
to describe a common ethnic slur so pejorative that it cannot
be written here in this article. While this is occurring,
one NFL team located in the nation's capital (The Washington
Redskins), continues to be named after a term that is generally
accepted as offensive, insulting and taboo in describing Native
Americans.
Despite people's opinions and arguments on Freedom of Speech, the origins of many words are oppressive, harkening back to a time where subjugation of groups by the dominant culture of the time were acceptable and in many cases celebrated. Considering that many of us have provided youth programming with the resources provided by the NFL (i.e. Play 60), it's clear that the topic of verbal pollution is complex. In reflecting on what this could mean for our professional lives and the impact on the people we influence, it's perhaps appropriate to reflect on a quote by the literary giant George Orwell, "If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought."
References
Fisher, E. J. (2008). The N-Word: reducing verbal pollution
in schools. Clearing House, 81(6),
278-281.
Fuller, B., Gulbrandson, K., & Herman-Ukasick, B. (2013).
Bully prevention in the physical
education classroom. Strategies, 26(6), 3-8.
Biography: Brian Culp is an associate professor in the Department
of Kinesiology, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management
at Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI).
Dr. Culp holds a BSED in Health and Physical Education from
the University of Georgia, a MS in Sport Administration from
Georgia State University, and a Doctorate of Education in
Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Georgia.
Brian's research interests include culturally responsive pedagogy,
teacher education, semiotics, and examining cultural barriers
to physical activity.
Brian received the Hally Beth Poindexter Young Scholar Award
from NAKPEHE, was selected to serve on the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), and has received
the Mabel Lee and Social Justice and Diversity Young Professional
Awards AAHPERD. In the summers of 2010 and 2011 Brian led
study abroad groups to East Africa to promote community health
and physical activity, and recently participated in a Fulbright-Hays
Scholarship program to Kenya studying democracy and education
while involving himself in several service related projects.
He has written extensively, and is a regular conference presenter.
Brian holds dual licenses as a K-12 physical educator in the
state of Georgia and Indiana. Dr. Culp currently taught courses
in teacher education pedagogy, and can be contacted at briculp@iupui.edu.
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