Commercials

So I have been wondering why the students have no desire or ability to pay attention to anything for very long. I despise having to dumb things down and simplify my projects for all levels and wish I could go back to the days in Rockaway Borough when I had kids do more writing and I could do more lecturing about things and the attention spans were greater.

Then I watched the Celtics-Heat game on channel 7 Saturday night. And it all became crystal clear.

After one round of commercials I wanted to do any or all of the following: kick in the TV, sue the advertisers for brain damage, find a permanent way to protect my eyes and ears from the assault. I felt like I had been subjected to torture. Everything was so loud, bright, rapid fire and bam bam bam bam.... Nothing can be said in full sentences, there are no cohesive thoughts presented and the pace was lightning speed. It truly was an assault on the senses. And the kids - or the general public for that matter - does not seem to be bothered at all. They have acclimated to it and adjusted themselves to suit the commercials. And the commercials for the movies? Oh god! Awful... Cars flipping, explosions, people yelling and holy cow! I mean, I used to love watching "Chips" when I was little and that had all that stuff, but there was something in between all that action too...

I just realized that playing the calming Classical or fun Jazz music in the room and trying to run the pace and keep everyone's attention the way I am doing it is a losing battle. Perhaps I need to introduce more art films and get them used to another pace...

Not sure, but I have to think of something...