[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iflIOklflrg]
A video of a Dallas-area student lecturing his social studies teacher on how to do a better job has gone viral, renewing debate about problems in the nation’s educational system.
The student, Jeff Bliss, an 18-year-old sophomore at Duncanville High School, is shown giving an unauthorized monologue on the topic that lasts for more than a minute before he walks out of the classroom.
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“If you would just get up and teach them instead of handing them a frickin’ packet, yo. There’s kids in here that don’t learn like that. They need to learn face-to-face,” he begins. “You want a kid to change and start doing better? You gotta touch his frickin’ heart. You can’t expect the kid to change if all you do is just tell ’em. You gotta take this job serious. This is the future of this nation,” Bliss adds, as he walks toward the door.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the teacher, Julie Phung, had assigned the class homework that was due in two days. Phung had reportedly given her other classes three days to complete the assignment. In the video, which was recorded on Monday, she repeatedly asks Bliss to leave the room, saying, “Get out,” “Will you please leave?” and “Can you get outside, please?”
The video, which was filmed by a fellow classmate using a cellphone, had racked up over 1.8 million views on YouTube by Friday afternoon.
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The Duncanville Independent School District has placed the teacher on paid administrative leave while it investigates the incident, but has taken no action against Bliss. “He makes a number of valid statements about how classrooms across America need to change, and we view this as an opportunity to have more conversations about transforming our schools to better meet the needs of our students,” a district spokesperson told Mashable.
Bliss’ mom says she’s proud of her son. She told the Dallas paper that his actions call to mind the famous quote from the philosopher Edmund Burke: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”