<p>So I'm taking a class this semester on a subject that I'm very interested in. The class is around 40-50 people. Professor's great and has experience up the wazoo. But this one guy in the class is ruining it for me. </p>
<p>He sits at the very front and interrupts the professor literally (LITERALLY literally) every couple of minutes throughout the entire class. He even did this yesterday (first day of class) when we were going through the syllabus. He also says things that are incredibly inappropriate or at least uncalled for - for example, today in class he just randomly yelled out "F*** you!" in reference to something we were discussing (as in, we were talking about ethnic conflict in this region and that was his demonstration of how each group regarded the other -- the prof. just laughed). And just really, this guy makes the class unbearable. I've had talkative know-it-alls in my classes before but nothing like this, which is why I've classified him as "hyperannoying." You'd think he was trying to co-lecture with the professor. In short, he is "disrupting my learning process and the learning process of others" or whatever. </p>
<p>But I feel kinda bad about complaining because, first of all, the professor seems irritated but she doesn't ever ask him to please stop interrupting, no matter how ridiculous his comments are. Also, maybe he has some sort of autistic spectrum condition that affects his ability to read cues and that's why he acts the way he does and I'm wrong to judge him (not saying that all people with autism spectrum are socially inept -- I am against the implication that autistic people are homicidal sociopaths or that they can't control their actions as has been suggested recently). I had a class with this guy last semester, actually, and he acted pretty much the same way, but it wasn't a lecture class and it wasn't quite as frustrating. </p>
<p>Anyway, part of me wants to go to the professor and ask her to at least ask him politely (in private) to stop being so disruptive. That would be uncharacteristic of me; I'm painfully and horribly shy and have gone through college pretty much without even visiting professors' office hours. I'm not a goody-two-shoes or a brown-nose when it comes to professors, I don't even have any real relationships with most of mine. But I really would like to get something out of his course, and I've heard others in the class complaining too. At the same time, I don't want to offend the professor or him or anyone else, especially if he effectively "doesn't know any better," and I'm stressing this once again because I don't want anyone accusing me of hating the disabled or whatever. Maybe I should just ignore it and try not to pay attention to him. Maybe I should just drop the class and quit whining. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Been through this before, in a math course. The guy was obviously special needs, but it was very disruptive and made it harder to learn. I believe a couple of people went to the professor about it (not to be mean, but because it was so distracting) and it got a bit better. I mean, I’m sure it bothered the professor as well, having a student talking over him during lecture, interrupting at bad times to ask questions, etc. But after a couple people talked to him about it, he was more aware and started asking him to stop talking during class, please raise his hand, etc. By the end of the semester, there were a lot fewer interruptions. The kid was smart, he could do the math, it just took him a while to figure out when it was okay to talk.</p>
<p>I’d say go to the professor about it, just let them know that you find it really distracting (tell him/her what you told us, basically) and try to be respectful about it. Chances are, if it’s as disruptive as you say it is, others are being bothered by it as well. If you’re too shy to go alone, maybe ask a friend to come with you to office hours?</p>
<p>Can you enlist some of the other students to speak to the professor as a group, or each approach her individually? There are strength in numbers with this sort of thing. I would start off positive, by telling her what you said in your first paragraph - you are very interested in the subject, think she’s a great professor, etc.</p>
<p>Homie, I’m assuming that you and the others in your class, including the one causing problems, are college age and at least 18 years old. As such, it’s not unreasonable to expect a certain amount of maturity from everyone. You’re all adults, after all. I know that once you get to the college level, they start expecting you to handle conflicts yourself, instead of relying on authority figures like professors to do it for you. </p>
<p>Thus, my first suggestion would to be, either by yourself or a couple others, approach the person causing problems and let them know they are being disruptive/annoying. Unless the interruptions are actually constructive to the class (in the sense that the interruption is useful to more than just the person and/or the professor), let the person know that these interruptions are annoying and making it harder for you to learn from the class. If the person is mature, as is expected from a college student, he will stop.</p>
<p>If the person continues to be annoying, then go to the professor about it, either by yourself or with others. There’s no shame in that. The person didn’t listen to your request. Unless the person does have some kind of social or mental issue that causes them to do these things, he will probably respond better to being told to chill out by a professor.</p>