Borderlines In Life

When I began watching Half Nelson I initially really didn’t know what to expect. Due in part that I was watching for an education class, I suppose I expected a lot more teaching. A sort of stereotypical “Mr. Holland’s Opus”-esque type of film that shows how amazing some teachers are, and how they can accomplish almost anything no matter what the circumstances.
This movie however showed teachers in a whole new light, and rather than examining Ryan Gossling’s character in the classroom the focus was much more on his personal life and his interactions with one student outside the classroom.
I have to agree with Dr. Schmidt when he said that many of the scenes and interactions with the teacher and student made me uncomfortable. The first major interaction of the film is when the students catches the teacher smoking crack. The teacher is so reliant on the student in this scene that it’s a tad but creepy. This made me begin to think about boundaries and how teachers approach them in the classroom and out.
Were you ever driven home from school by a teacher or coach, or how about left alone with a member of your high school faculty doing an after school project or working on a school event. In some towns and cities this is all perfectly acceptable. I grew up in an extremely small town where everyone knew each other and there was never any worries about who your child’s teacher was and if they were staying after school with them. However, as my time comes closer and closer to becoming a music educator myself, I begin to think long and hard about my unmonitored time with my students. In the scene of the movie where all the students and teachers where at a school dance and Mr. Dunne began dancing very close with Drey I became very uncomfortable. In fact it made me cringe. For one why would any teacher or adult for that matter in their right mind think it is ok to dance like that with a fourteen year old? Lastly why would the other teachers and administrators look on while smiling? I find this so disturbing and unrealistic no matter where is the world you teach.
As teachers we are often at times viewed as leaders in our classroom community. If students are looking to us for guidance, for strength, and for direction in their own lives and futures, we can not be consistently put our flaws out there. This is not saying we should un-human. We are all individuals with skeletons in our closet and issues in our lives, however we must know when to share these sensitive moments and when to act like professional adults.