Raising your hand, showing respect, and obeying instructions are standard rules that are common in schools nationwide. Banning slang in the classroom is a new rule that teachers want to implement and has created a debate online.
Banning slang in the classroom was necessary for teachers like Angela Santalo, a middle school science teacher at a Miami-based Catholic private school. In March, she posted a TikTok video featuring a list of prohibited phrases, including “frizz” and “ski bidi toilet.”
Santalo stated, “As the year continues, I’m going to add more to this list, but if you’re in my class, I don’t want to hear this.” “If you say any of these words, infraction. We’re all intelligent, so let’s start sounding intelligent.”
Other teachers who understood her stance commented on her post. One of them commented, “6th grade teacher here 100% agree!! “
Santalo stated that she initially came up with the idea because her students were using the slang in her classroom.
Santalo told the media, “All the grades collectively were saying it,” referring to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. “What prompted me to do that is I was hearing it an insane amount of times. I had to do what I had to do to end it.”
Experts’ view on banning slang in the classroom.
A photo of the ban list from an unnamed teacher surfaced online and went viral earlier this year. The student could easily compose a short story using the words or phrases “Just vibe,” “standing on business,” “you ate that up,” and “cap.”
How yall feel bout this ? pic.twitter.com/JRC8raLh3f
— 𝓈𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉★ (@backendzyy) January 7, 2024The teacher stated, “The gibberish some of you choose to use is improper English and sometimes inappropriate for an academic setting.” “This is an educational institution, and you will carry yourself as scholars in my classroom!”
In a recent survey conducted by Preply, 78% of teachers from kindergarten to 12th grade said they would be able to control what their students say in the classroom. However, two out of five teachers were against banning slang in the classroom.
The organization conducted a study of 1,000 parents of children from kindergarten to 12th grade regarding the effects of slang on writing and learning.
Teachers and experts who are against the slang ban claim that these rules may disproportionately impact Blacks and other students of color. Some slang comes from TikTok, while others come from African American vernacular English (AAVE).
Dr. Bettina Love, a professor and author at the Teachers College, Columbia University, stated, “It just baffles me how each and every year, we find new ways to punish students, particularly Black students.” “This is just another form of punishment. This is just another way to be punitive and to be anti-Black within our schools.”
She added, “Why can’t we teach students that we can speak all these ways? You don’t have to ban it, but you could say, ‘Hey, this is how we formally write; this is how we speak for an interview.’ There’s no reason to ban it because when you ban something, that means there’s punishment on the other end of it.”
Other teachers’ views on slang
Philadelphia high school teacher Mathew Kay claims the most beloved discussions in his classroom are those in which students feel free to express themselves and speak in a language they are comfortable with.
“I’ll be in class, and we’ll be talking about a book, and a character will say something, and the kid in the back will shout, like, ‘Yo, that’s cap.’ And I’m like, ‘Tell me more.'”
Kay recalled,
He added, “What annoys me about this particular discourse is that it poisons moments that I find to be some of the most beautiful classroom moments ever.”
According to the Preply survey, 36% of teachers think that allowing students to use slang shows respect for their cultural identity. Love claims that when teachers take away that privilege, “you’re telling them that their culture is less than theirs, and you’re telling them that their culture should be banned.”
Kay stated, “Any study of language shows that language changes and adapts, and for a [teacher] to outright ban an evolution of language in class is silly.” “It’s worse because it’s like pretending to be something you’re doing for academic reasons, but it’s one of the most anti-academic stances a teacher can take.”
Santalo further stated that her goal is for her students to choose their words wisely in the classroom. She said that most of the slang is derived from meaningless memes that have no connection with ethnicity, race, or culture. She also stated that she has seen improvement since.
Santalo explained, “I think the fact that I banned it from my class allowed them to gain the self-control like ‘Oh, I can’t say Skibidi Toliet every five seconds.'” “It… taught them to refrain and hold back a little bit, which is good because in a classroom, ultimately, you’re there to learn. You’re not there to make a show or make people laugh. We have to learn. “
The need for teachers to adjust to the times
According to Love, more conservations regarding education should focus more on important topics such as the national shortage of teachers and student attendance issues since the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, other issues such as hair discrimination or aggressive dress codes still isolate students of color.
Regarding the slang discussions, Love questioned how it “improves any of the real issues that are impacting our students and our public education system.”
According to the survey, 50% of the teachers said they were willing to take a course in slang studies.
A community of teachers on TikTok has emerged to assist others in learning the meaning of common slang phrases so that they can stay up to date with their students. To understand his references, Kay asks his students for context clues and then follows through on their recommendations, such as watching videos or movies.
Kay said, “It’s a fun interaction for me to say, ‘Hey, I have no idea. We should explain that.'” “It’s a conversation starter, which I think is cool.”
Echoing Love’s comments, he added, “We have so many larger issues to deal with in education; I can’t imagine anyone wasting their brain space on kids using slang.”
According to Love, the role of a teacher is changing, and more teachers should think about their students before making specific rules.
She said, “Teachers should have to go out and learn it on their own.” “These students are coming into your classroom. You have a cultural disconnect, so your job is to figure it out so you can have more in common and understand your students so that you can engage with them.”
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