YOUTH TALK

Throughout the history of teaching, teachers seem to have been approaching the subject of disciplining students in completely the wrong way. 

They have been unsuccessful in sufficiently garnering the exact mixture of fear and respect necessary for a well-behaved classroom.

The secret to getting that mixture just right was unknown, up until now. And, it was discovered by a Belgian maths teacher: spoil the truths that are the closest to their hearts and that will shake their very beings to the core.

Picture the scene: a noisy maths classroom, the students aren’t paying attention, the teacher has begun sighing deeply and drumming his fingers repeatedly against his desk, then he gets an idea. He calmly rises from his seat and asks the students if any of them watch Game of Thrones.

The TV series is extremely popular, especially amongst those my age, as it contains plenty of breath-taking special effects, violence and mystery. Therefore, when he posed the question about three quarters of the students said they did indeed watch the show – all of them being at various different points within it.

With a grin seeping across his face, the teacher then said he had read all of the books and continued to say: “If there is too much noise, I will write the name of the characters that die on the board. They are enough to fill the whole year and I can even describe how they die.”

Of course, a mixture of horror and disbelief spread across the classroom. Then a mistake was made. They called his bluff.

With no remorse he then wrote across the board the names of all the characters that were killed in the third season. Needless to say the majority of the class were traumatised beyond repair.

When I think back on detentions and staying after school, they all seem fairly humane now.