Being a college professor in 2009

Lisa Black has recently written an article about rudeness in college classrooms.

Thankfully, things in my classes at Winthrop aren't as bad as some of the scenarios she describes.

Students who say yes sir and no sir and who abide by the rules and decorum of the class are always appreciated by their professors.

One challenge, for example, in teaching in a Mac computer lab is keeping students off the "toys" (computers) when you want them to focus on something important that you (the professor) have to say.

So here's my plea, students, (and I hope you're reading this): When the old guy is talking, get off the toys and give him eye contact and your full attention.

After all, you do want your tuition's worth, correct?

Here, in case you're interested, is Lisa Black's story on classroom rudeness. It appeared in today's edition of The (Rock Hill) Herald:


Lee Shumow doesn't want to text her students, or be their friend on Facebook, but to their chagrin prefers an old-fashioned way to communicate: e-mail.

The educational psychology professor at Northern Illinois University appreciates when students take the time to reply. It's an extra treat when they don't begin their message with, "Hey, Lee."

She and many of her colleagues believe such informality has seeped into the college classroom environment, citing student behavior that's best described as rude or oblivious. As students begin a new semester this month, instructors bracing for yet another onslaught blame technology for creating a disengaged generation whose attention is constantly diverted by laptops, phones and iPods.

Others point to the unruly classroom as a reflection of an increasingly ill-mannered society. Nearly 70 percent of Americans polled in 2005 said they believe people are more rude than they were 20 to 30 years ago.

"I literally cannot imagine having addressed any teacher I had in my career as 'Hey' and then their first name,' " said Shumow, who has a doctoral degree and has taught 15 years at NIU. "I love them. I won an award for undergraduate teaching in 2005. But man, the world has really changed from when I was a student."

To their credit, most students are respectful and more inquisitive than ever, faculty members say.

Yet professors also find they must devote space in the syllabus to ask students to refrain from surfing the Web, texting or answering cell phones during a lecture. Some have to remind students that, when making a presentation, they should remove the backward baseball cap and save the bare midriff for a beach party. Others complain that students randomly leave and enter the classroom during class.

For their part, students are irked by others who slurp and chew food, doze off or dominate discussion.

Some blame high schools for lowering the bar on classroom conduct, while others say the problems begin at home, when families fail to instill in children basic skills such as how to say "please" or "thank you."

In some cases, parents are more obnoxious than their offspring. One professor reported hearing from an irate father whose child had failed a class. The father insisted he had paid enough tuition for "at least a D."

Yet experts believe there is more to collegiate rudeness than perhaps a feeling of entitlement.

The attitude often is: "I don't need you, I have the Net," said P.M. Forni, director of the Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins University and a professor of Italian literature.

"These are students for whom the computers are the training wheels of their knowledge since early childhood. Many of them will think nothing of starting to text as you convey a commentary on Dante's 'Divine Comedy.' "

Although the decline in classroom manners has not been documented in evidence-backed research, Forni said, the "anecdotal evidence is so massive it becomes rather reliable."

There is a sense, he said, that the relationship between student and teacher is now likened to one between a client and service provider.

"The prestige of the teacher and the professors as providers of knowledge and wisdom has decreased as the importance of the information technology has increased," he said.

Professors should set a tone of relaxed formality and define boundaries from day one, Forni said.

For instance, he begins his classes by explaining that he grew up in Italy during a different generation, where wearing caps in a classroom was considered rude. He considers it a distraction.

"I say, 'Listen, I cannot enforce this. I am just asking you as a favor not to wear a cap in class for this reason,' " Forni said. "Nobody from that moment on wears his cap in class."

Students usually respond well, teachers say, when they understand what is expected of them and what they can expect from the professor -- including respect.