[HPforGrownups] Re: What if other teachers behaved like Snape?

[Lady Macbeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 101706

Shaun   wrote:
I mention this fact, because I don't want to leave the impression that I am
unique. I'm not - my experiences are *not* that uncommon.

I am genuinely and extremely sorry for the fact that you were harmed by a
teacher. I really am - because I was as well - on numerous occasions.

But really the point I'm trying to make here is that in virtually every
case, a teacher or a specific method of teaching may be *great* for some
kids - and *hideous* for others.

Lady Macbeth replied:
Thank you, Shaun.  NO, you are not unique, by any stretch of the
imagination.  I *still* suffer from depression, something that I'm fighting
an uphill battle against.  What really and truly got me out of my hole of
self-hating and anti-everyone tendencies was that my parents would have
given Snape a run for his money.  My friends referred to my mother as "The
Drill Instructor" (military boot camp type) and she scared children who'd
never even MET her before into obeying her.  One kid in my brother's class
visibly shook and almost fell over obeying my mom because she'd yelled at
him to tie his shoes.  She didn't know who he was (and still doesn't to this
day) and he didn't know her from Eve - but she hated children who ran around
with their shoes untied. (Among other things.)

And that's more or less what I was trying to get across - I've had good
teachers and bad teachers, and some have left striking marks on my psyche to
this day.  Some of those same teachers were regarded in just the opposite
light by many of my peers.

However, very few institutions (Hogwarts included) have the manpower and/or
finances to cater to EVERY child's needs - they need to try to balance
things among what staff they have.  Thus some seem overly harsh, like Snape,
while some seem overly "motherly" like Sprout, and some fall somewhere in
the middle where they're not remarked upon at all.  (Binns isn't mean to his
students, after all - pbth, he doesn't notice when they fall asleep in his
class.  But what are any of them getting out of his classes?  Hermione got
her history knowledge well before she ever started her first class.)

Shaun wrote:
What determines what is realistic though?

Are my experiences less realistic than yours?

Lady Macbeth replied:
EXACTLY.  All experiences are unique, and when we deal with "realistic" it
comes down to what is "realistic" for that person.  I thought that Harry was
dealing with the abuse set on him in OotP in a VERY realistic way - many
teenage boys (and girls) internalize abuse and NEVER speak of it, even to
their peers.  It festers in their mind and sets chains of events years down
the road, not in the days and months that it's immediately happening in.
Instead, that time is consumed with anger toward others, feelings of
frustration, inadequacy, tension, stress and at some point an outburst - the
behavior that was triggered by UMBRIDGE, not Snape.  That's where, IMHO, Jo
is making a "realistic" approach to separating true abuse from an overly
critical teacher.

-Lady Macbeth


No more bounces!
No limits on mailbox size or attachments
Check mail from your desktop (IMAP or POP3), from the web, or with your cell phone!
Better than YahooPlus, Hotmail, or Gmail!

http://www.unlimited-mail.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]