A wee lassie called Kerrie burst into my classroom on Monday morning, put on a bad American accent, and announced: “Keep my wife’s name outta ya mouth!”
In the realm of teenagers, a famous millionaire actor assaulting a famous millionaire comedian in front of a famous millionaire audience is about as juicy as the gossip gets. Kerrie had woken up early and spent several hours watching the story percolate on Good Morning Britain. Savouring the soundbites, inhaling its fumes. “I’m going to be talking about this all day,” she smiled, then reminded me, once again, to keep her wife’s name outta my mouth.
Will Smith’s slap on Chris Rock is, of course, an incredible story. But even away from the glitz of Hollywood and the blizzard of commentary on social media, the slap will have real-world reverberations that reach most classrooms in most countries.
Will Smith and Chris Rock are, obviously, supposed to be role models for young people. Living privileged lives, with vast wealth, they have the platform denied to most. Yet here, we have one making unsavoury comments about someone’s appearance, and another responding to this with an outburst of violence. How can either behaviour be justified?
At my school, we work hard to instil into students the importance of kindness in action and words. Teachers and parents work in harmony to model these behaviours, and we are all aware of our position as role models.
Children and teenagers are impressionable. It is not difficult to envisage a swathe of copycat slaps echoing up and down playgrounds this week. You can well imagine the rationale going through their spongy minds already. If Will Smith can slap Chris Rock for insulting his wife, surely the same vengeance can be sought for someone jumping the lunch queue/copying homework/failing to like an Instagram post?
Worse, the very public nature of the incident at the Oscars could easily encourage a thirst for infamy. Get a crowd around you, make sure it’s being filmed on camera, come up with your own catchphrase. Bullying dynamics need only a little kindling to ignite. Protecting students from this kind of copycat attack is not an easy task.
The best way to deal with such an all-pervading media event in school is surely to address it. The footage and its story are out there; we cannot hope to shelter students from it. And, whatever you think of the behaviour of both men, there are good learning hooks to dangle conversations from.
Who is really to blame? Does Chris Rock’s form of comedy - hazing, roasting, shaming others publicly - have a place on such a stage? Would censoring his edginess constitute an unnecessary censorship or impinge on freedom of speech?
I understand there are many who defend Will Smith’s behaviour, but there is a discussion to be had with pupils there, too - maybe they can think of better ways to have dealt with the offence caused. Maybe they can empathise with his instincts, yet offer guidance on how to manifest them maturely.
Or does the cause lie somewhere vague in society, where public roastings have become common at award ceremonies, and in turn lead to content, clickbait and memes?
The good news is that, before long, the story will be replaced by another. Yet, it will remain within the frame of reference for Kerrie and her classmates. We can help them to rationalise it, understand it - and learn how to make better choices.
Alan Gillespie is principal teacher of English at Fernhill School, near Glasgow
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