On Thursday, a rather worrying entry was added to the catalogue of the ongoing “relationship” between comedian John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The two have had an interesting public battle that resulted in the show’s most-watched online clip ever, “Make Donald Drumpf Again.” Millions have viewed the segment on digital platforms, and much of the audience belongs to the coveted demo of high school and college students. Clicks were likely accrued on smartphones and personal computers, but if what happened at Middletown High School South in New Jersey is any indication, countless others have also occurred in classrooms.
According to News 12 New Jersey, history teacher Joseph Ventre was asked to resign at the end of the year after the parent of one of his students complained about a video he showed in class. Specifically, the aformentioned “Make Donald Drumpf Again” segment from Last Week Tonight. The precise reason for the clip’s use wasn’t disclosed to the press, nor was it discussed in detail during a board meeting on Wednesday night, per what parents and students in attendance told the New York Post. According to an online petition started by Lexie Brizzi, one of Ventre’s alleged Middletown High students, however, it has to do with a contract violation:
Mr. Ventre is being forced to resign as a teacher at Middletown South due to showing his political views in the classroom. Although this is a violation of his contract this should not end his career at South.
Despite the apparent violation, Ventre’s students and their parents have come out in droves to support him. From their defending him against school administrators at Wednesday’s meeting and signing the above petition, to supposedly trying to rope in former Daily Show host Jon Stewart‘s help, it seems the history teacher will come out on the right side of things. Especially since, according to Middletown superintendent Bill George, Ventre has rescinded his resignation and is no longer being asked to leave the school.
Maybe Ventre was “showing his political views in the classroom” and thereby violating his contract. Maybe it was part of a lesson, even though no videos of the other four presidential candidates were apparently used. (After all, Ventre teaches history and the “Drumpf” segment contains a lot of it.) But none of the students who were present complained. Instead, the fuss was made by someone outside of the classroom.
For this reason alone, Ventre never should have been asked to resign. Yet there’s a much stronger reason as to why Last Week Tonight‘s presence in an educational setting should have never caused problems. Mainly, it’s an educational setting. Teachers use various media to aid their lessons all the time, and if a catchy or popular video relates to the points they’re trying to convey, then — aside from screening PornHub’s latest parody — they’ll use it.
I can attest to this, because before I left the halls of academia to blog for a living, I once taught college English courses. And aside from classroom discussions, example writings, and written assignments, clips from programs like The Daily Show, The O’Reilly Factor and South Park were my best weapons against ignorance (and sleep). To demonstrate this, here are a few examples from these three shows that I used for three different, but equally important — and educational — reasons.
Arguments, Good and Bad
Three devices — logical, emotional, and ethical appeals — are powerful tools in the writer/speaker’s argumentative arsenal. If used correctly, they can turn even the faintest of positions into a definitive blow. A great way to teach these to college freshman was to watch and discuss examples of bad arguments. And since most students had just finished decorating their dorms with Tibetan prayer flags or completing their College Republicans membership applications, politics and 24-hour cable news were an unending source of such examples. Like the above clip from The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News, in which host Bill O’Reilly went from discussing anti-war sentiments with a 9/11 victim’s son to yelling at him about shaming his father’s memory.
Distinguishing Information From Crap(py Information)
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Recognizing and creating arguments, written and otherwise, requires information. Whether this information came from my students’ own anecdotes, an assigned essay, an article in that morning’s newspaper or an online listicle, they had to be taught how to parse through it all and determine what was and wasn’t credible. This necessitated lessons on appropriate sourcing and citation styles, which were some of the most arduous lessons for all parties involved; but it also meant more examples.
Processing Current Events
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My last teaching gig was at a small community college south of Boston, and my final semester there was in the spring of 2013. A month before the final week of classes, the Boston Marathon bombings happened, which delayed everything while students, faculty and staff tried to confirm the well-being of their friends and loved ones. When we all returned to class two days later, I realized I still had a lesson to teach.
So I delayed what I’d originally planned and showed my classes Stephen Colbert’s introduction from his Colbert Report episode on Tuesday, April 16 — the day after the bombings. For two minutes, Comedy Central’s would-be O’Reilly praised the people of Boston and derided the attackers (who were still unknown at the time). It was a great pick-me-up for us all, as well as an impromptu lesson about how the media can help viewers process grief. (see: Prince) This led to a screening of Stewart’s famous first Daily Show back after 9/11, and a comparison of it to Colbert’s video and other similar instances from recent history.
Of course, English 101 doesn’t consist of just arguments, information and topical discussions. Many other subjects would arise, and if an appropriate video from a popular television program was applicable, I always used it to help my students. Which is why YouTube and other online players were my first clicks during lesson planning, and probably why Joseph Ventre wanted to help make Donald Drumpf again.
(Via News 12 New Jersey, New York Post, NJ.com and Patch)