On February 15th, 1985, the movie The Breakfast Club was released, capturing the lives of five high school students as they endure a Saturday detention. Johnny, the criminal, whose background includes a physical and verbally abusive home life; Claire, the princess, who feels she can’t be herself in fear that no one will like her; Allison, the basket case, who feels ignored by her parents and those around her; Brian, the nerd, who tried to commit suicide because when he was not doing well in one of his classes, he felt worthless; lastly, Andrew, the athlete, who feels pressured to be first in all he does. While schools may not be the same as they were in 1985, there is still one message I believe resonates with today’s teachers and schools: what’s on the surface is not a clear picture of what’s beneath it. As I watch the Breakfast Club, I wonder if any of the students would be in detention if just one adult, teacher, coach, or administrator took the time to just listen. Would Johnny feel worthless? Would Allison feel ignored if one person took the time to understand her emotions and reasons behind her “inappropriate” behaviors? I believe the following quote by Haim G. Ginott sums up The Breakfast Club and my own philosophy perfectly:
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.” – Haim G. Ginott
While it is overwhelming to think about the impact we have as educators, it is also the reason I became a teacher. To be able to encourage the Johnny’s of the world and inform them that they matter and that there’s someone who cares for them is the atmosphere I want to create for my classroom. My motto is that no matter where a student has been, what they’ve done, or what has been done to them, I want every student of mine to know they are always welcomed in my classroom. This past year I have been strongly influenced by Joe Beckman, a youth motivational speaker who travels to schools across the country speaking on the value of human connection. Mr. Beckman argues we lack one simple thing: human connection. We have forgotten to notice students and believe in them to “look up.” We have thousands of opportunities every day to make an impact on the life of a single student beyond the content in the classroom. Yes, the reason we are in school is to receive an education, but if learning is about building bridges between subjects, then why do we forget to provide all the wood for our students to build their bridge? I believe my role as a teacher is to help my students build a solid bridge, to encourage them to always “look up,” and to look not at the surface but what’s underneath.
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References
- IMDb – The Breakfast Club
- Movies Stack Exchange – Why did Andrew’s fist pump make Allison smile?
- Plato’s Cave – The Breakfast Club: More Than a Movie?
- Google Books – The Breakfast Club: A Study in the Development of Adolescence Emotionality and Identity in Movie Narrative
- Project MUSE – The Breakfast Club and the Genre of the “Teen Film”
- CUNY Academic Works – The Power of Narrative in Film: The Breakfast Club as Critical Pedagogy
