<p>From the Chicago Tribune;</p>
<p>Rude</a> behavior in college classrooms is often a matter of course -- chicagotribune.com</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t think that the teacher was right in making the comment, but this is a real mature, 21 year old response. :eek:</p>
<p>Given my severe allergy to smoke I probably would have asked the students not to smoke before class and sit next to me, too. I have had professors make similar requests to my classes and it is generally not viewed as a problem. Smokers do not seem to realize how strong the smell is to others when they’ve just smoked. As a student I have to purposefully scope out who the smokers are and avoid sitting near them, because they go out and smoke at the breaks and when they come back it makes me sick. </p>
<p>“In response, “We would just smoke even more before class,” said Allyce Doorey, 21, of Lake Villa. The two recalled how they wet their hair before smoking, to be sure the odor stuck.”</p>
<p>I remember in my 8th grade english class, my teacher had a SEVERE allergy to cologne and perfume, and kids hated her and would purposefully bathe in it before coming in to watch her have an allergic reaction and laugh. That’s 8th grade, so what, 12 year olds? 13? And the same behaviors exist in college? Yikes. </p>
<p>I also think it’s interesting that the first highlight of the article is the mention of first names. I wonder if professors are throwing the students off in that some professors will tell you to use their first name and to be colloquial and some demand the utmost respect be shown at all times, however the students should be smart enough to know that different people expect different levels of formality and the default is to show the utmost respect for your professor, not to treat them like a buddy. I find many of my peers have not experienced yet having figures in their lives that expect that level of formality and wonder if they know how to cope with it properly, I have been saying “yes sir” or “no sir” my whole life and was always ridiculed for it until now. I would bet that comes from past experiences in school and from parents. My parents never really expected much respect at all but my teachers sure did and that’s where I learned it. I’d be a beast had I not had some good teachers in my lifetime, and known well enough to listen to them. There are plenty of kids with similar parents who don’t have the natural inclination to take what their teachers say to heart.</p>
<p>I have yet to experience a university level class, but at my community college-- where to be honest I’d have expected the respect situation to be worse, kids like that are the exception rather than the rule. There were a few students who would be disrespectful, maybe one in every 5th class I took, and we’d all look around at each other like, “who does this guy think he is!?” and the teacher would promptly toss them out. I got the impression that most of the kids who behaved that way were probably like that everywhere, I knew some from high school and they had definitely been acting out in class their whole lives. I’d really have to wonder about a class that behaved so poorly as a whole in a college level class that the professor got the impression college students are rude. If a professor doesn’t allow it, it doesn’t happen. I imagine it’s harder to have control in big lecture halls, which I have not yet experienced to comment on, but I’ve never experienced a situation where a student couldn’t have just been thrown out of class for being disorderly.]</p>
<p>I’m in classes at a big public U, including one class that is almost entirely freshmen. I see a <em>lot</em> of this behavior. It’s actually pretty hard for me to sit through it, because here are kids the age or my children and younger, doing things that my own children would be disciplined for, but because they’re my peers in one sense, I have to sort of sit on my hands. The kid next to me text messages under the table every time the professor turns his back. The girl sitting at my desk, despite being told that we’re not supposed to have laptops in class, keeps hers open – and surfs social networking sites. The <em>really</em> young kid behind me jokes about lying to the professor about not being able to buy the text, to get out of the readings. Two seats over, someone is wearing his cap despite being asked not to in class. They’re basically all little jerks, to one extent or another, with only a couple of exceptions.</p>
<p>Am not surprised by this as you see this behavior in elementary, middle and high school so by the time they get to college – it is too late.</p>
<p>I have just started at Com College. I thought people would be immature and nonchalant, but it’s quite the opposite. People are respectful and ask tons of questions keeping the profs on THEIR toes! It’s great. there’s some older people too. The only rude person so far is one of the older ladies, who gets extremely condescending with a prof for moving the notes too fast.</p>
<p>I think the professor was out of line.
I am a smoker, and I do not smoke near non-smokers, I don’t smoke inside buildings, etc…however, I am not going to stop smoking BEFORE class, in my own car or outside, that is a bit ridiculous.</p>
<p>Well he didn’t ask them to not smoke, just to not sit near him if they were going to smoke.</p>
<p>Srose, then be prepared to take my epipen out of my purse when I drop to the floor and begin choking and pay my hospital bills. If someone asks you not to go stand near them because you smell of an allergen, it is pretty ridiculous not to oblige. I have a food allergy as well and am not always able to run away from every person that I am allergic to, so I inform them of the allergy and have to hope we can work together to make sure that I do not have a reaction. That is just standard procedure and common courtesy when dealing with someone that has a severe allergy. I usually just hold my breath until I can get away but if I was a teacher of a class that had people coming in right after smoking every day, I’d need them to realize what implications that has and would have no choice but to inform them. I’m an asthmatic, I can’t hold my breath the whole class period! They can smoke all they want as long as I can’t smell it.</p>
<p>As a teacher, I have found that more and more students in high school (confirmed that it is true in middle school, as well, by my friends who teach that level) think they can say whatever they want. And they are supported by their parents in this. I have told my students many times that it is not what they say but how they say it - ask nicely and I will work with you. Demand or actually order me to do something, forget it! You wouldn’t believe how many students think it is OK for them to say, you HAVE to… And then the ones who think it is OK to interrupt and make a cute comment when I am trying to discipline someone, or just have to make those looks with their rolling eyes, or always want to argue when being sent to the office for an infraction. As for texting or calling during class, you wouldn’t believe how many cell phones I have confiscated and I know I didn’t get them all. I have had kids refuse to turn them over to me…refuse to give me a note, and then talk down to me. One time, I admonished a couple for making out in the school hall, and the boy looked at me and said, “Jealous? Not getting any?” Trust me - I am ot surprised they do this in college. There are a lot of narcissistic kids out there that think the world revolves around them, and they can do and say whatever they want. Believe me, their grades reflect their attitude, because generally these kids don’t think they need to do anything in order to pass. And their parents allow this at home, so why should it be different in class?</p>
<p>Every prof I know has collected stories of rude behavior in the classroom. I think it’s unusual but you always remember those rude moments! Some of my memories: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>I’m in the middle of a very complex lecture, fielding questions, and a student wanders in 20 minutes late, and comes to the front of the room (so now is basically ‘on stage’ with me), and starts going through materials on the desk looking for a handout. </p></li>
<li><p>A student whose phone not only rings, but he TAKES THE CALL and starts talking in a loud voice. When I approach him with the “what in the hell are you doing?” look, he puts his finger up and says “I’ll be just a minute!” and climbs under the desk where he continues to talk. </p></li>
<li><p>The student that only not decides to read the paper in my class, but actually SITS AT THE FRONT of the room to do so, and rather than at least covertly do so, he spreads it out on his desk, turning the pages, like he’s sitting at the breakfast table. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These are just so ridiculous they make me laugh. Maybe inevitable when you interact with so many people over several decades, you’ve seen everything. Ask anyone who works with the public and they’ll have similar stories of rude or strange behavior. </p>
<p>And is it getting worse or are there just more opportunities for it (due to technology)? </p>
<p>Or is it one of those cases of the older generation always bemoaning the ‘youth of today!’
Here is a great thread about how throughout history the elders have lamented the poor behavior of youth: [Google</a> Answers: “The trouble with youngsters today…”](<a href=“Google Answers: "The trouble with youngsters today..."”>Google Answers: "The trouble with youngsters today...")</p>
<p>I sometimes wonder how the rude kids will make out when they have to go into the work world. I mean do they really plan to blow off a meeting they booked with their boss? Or take a cell phone call at the table while their boss is running a meeting?</p>
<p>Srose, I think you might not be able to appreciate how strongly one smells after smoking when close to them (at least to non-smokers). On occasion a student of mine will come into my office after a cigarette, and I honestly can’t stand to breath, and my office will smell for hours afterwards. </p>
<p>Same thing really with students texting, surfing, talking, passing notes. They can’t appreciate the fact that they are extremely visible, and often distracting, to the person at the front of the room. Visibility at the front is usually terrific, and when leading a class, you are really tuned into everything going on. You are deeply focused and looking at body language to see if you can move on, who is stuck, if something is boring, who has a hand up. So you can’t help but notice a ton, even though students think they are being discreet or invisible.</p>
<p>Smokers have no clue how awful they smell and those two immature smokers who wet their hair so they would smell worse have no idea that they stink and that stinking, will cost them dates, work, internships etc. Imagine being so stupid that you decide to smell worse and then go for a job interview.</p>
<p>If you stink, who is going to hire you.</p>
<p>And if you sit in your car and smoke, you smell like the bottom of an ashtray, and will repel people. Most people I know cant stand to be around someone who smokes, the odor is horrid.</p>
<p>And imagine what those girls classmates think of them now, purposely making themselves stink. How childish they were.</p>
<p>As for the professor, if he doesn’t want to sit next to someone who has been smoking, he has the right to ask them to move. Stinky is stinky.</p>
<p>I dislike cigarette smoke too, but the professor has to be a little bit careful. It does feel personally insulting to be told you stink. If it comes across in a moralistic tone, then even worse.</p>
<p>What if the professor says “get away from me you stink of garlic”? Or “I won’t sit near you you have the worst halitosis ever”.</p>
<p>Speaking of rude behaviors, you can read countless stories on the Chronicle of Higher Education - In the Classroom forum. Some are ridiculous.</p>
<p>Wow, I have yet to experience most of this in college thankfully. However, I too have a severe allergy to smoke, but luckily only around 5% of my college smokes and those that do are pretty respectful of others.</p>
<p>None of this surprises me though, unfortunately. All of my teachers (except one) have asked us to call them by their first names, but I would NEVER address my teacher as Hey ____ unless they told us to. I am in a residential humanities program at my U and all of the teachers are VERY laid back, but I still couldn’t imagine playing solitaire during a discussion or something. What is the point of going to class?</p>
<p>I think some people are taking what Srose said out of context. She (or he) said it was out of line for the professor to say you can not smoke before that class. She (or he ) said nothing about it being out of line to ask a smoker not to sit beside you.</p>
<p>I agree that it is out of line to ask a student not to smoke before a class. A professor has no say in what a student does for the most part before class (drinking and such would be the exception). I smoke but I do not smoke beside doors or buildings. I park my car way in the back of the lot at school where no one parks and I smoke beside my car there and I put my cigarettes out in my ashtray. I do not sit by non smokers but a few non smokers have been around me and they never say anything about the smell.</p>
<p>AS for the whole job thing as a smoker I have never had a hard time getting a job. I am a parapro now and I had no issues getting that job ever tho I am a smoker. The dean had not a problem with the fact that I am a smoker.</p>
<p>Although I have experienced all sorts of rude behavior in the classroom, my favorite story happened to a friend.</p>
<p>He was lecturing (medium-sized lecture hall) when a young woman, sitting several rows back from the front, pulled all the makings of a pedicure out of her purse and proceded to file and polish her toenails! </p>
<p>Amazing!!</p>
<p>Back to the allergy issue- I’m with ya’ll about folks bringing allergens around someone with a medically weak system but I didn’t hear that this prof was carrying an epipen for residual tobacco smoke smell or that he was asthmatic or even allergic (but I didn’t read the article, just what was posted) . Now if the line you are drawing is just the odor of a smoker, I can’t quite agree. I don’t like being around any perfume (it often turns my stomach) but I would never think to humiliate the blue-hairs at my local breakfast haunt the way these students were treated. Same with pets, hair-spray, some shampoos, body odor, fuel smells and (insert the fifty other things that could and do bother folks to the same level as residual tobacco smell).</p>
<p>Seems to me the prof could have used some discretion and good manners and asked to speak to the students away from his power-pulpit. Without more data showing a medical need , I’d say he was off-base. It’s easy to pick on a smoker. Try granny’s eau d’toilette or Yvonne’s hair goo instead. See how many allies you get. ;)</p>
<p>I’m sure everyone has something they do or use that repulses others. It reminds me of my vegetarian friends who “can’t stand” the stench given off by meat-eaters. </p>
<p>Around my part of the world smokeless tobacco is a big thing (snuff). In other parts of the country it’s chewing tobacco, leaf or plug. Lots of people object to second-hand spit, too. Should we ban that in public because some people are repulsed?</p>
<p>Baggy drawers? Sideways baseball caps? Those God-awful earpiece phones? All of which I’d like to control if I was the super grand poobah. ;)</p>
<p>lol. It also reminds me of my father’s 4th wife. She always made a huge show (who knows , maybe it was real? Glad she wasn’t a prof. ;)) about us having pet hair/dander on our clothes (she wouldn’t think of coming to the ranch). She wanted us to lint brush ourselves before coming to their home. Heck, she probably wanted us to keep separate “city clothes” to wear to see her. We agreed she had that right in her home and never went again. Life is all about choices. When I can do so without negatively affecting my health, I choose to put up with some bad to get to the good. She chose differently. I can live with that. ;)</p>
<p>I also once had a client so allergic that she was house-bound. Truly sad, but she just couldn’t risk being in public as she knew she couldn’t control her environment sufficiently to allow herself to function.</p>