FULL BUBBLE WRAP: Students Are Now Protesting In-Class Presentations

It’s official. We’ve gone full bubble wrap.

According to this, a bunch of students across the country are protesting in-class presentations, because they’re scary. They’re arguing that presentations are discriminatory against students with anxiety issues, to which I say, ALOMST EVERYONE HAS ANXIETY ABOUT IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS. Are we really slapping a diagnosis to that now?

This week, a tweet posted by a 15-year-old high-school student declaring “Stop forcing students to present in front of the class and give them a choice not to” garnered more than 130,000 retweets and nearly half a million likes. A similar sentiment tweeted in January also racked up thousands of likes and retweets. And teachers are listening.

Students who support abolishing in-class presentations argue that forcing students with anxiety to present in front of their peers is not only unfair because they are bound to underperform and receive a lower grade, but it can also cause long-term stress and harm.

|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
stop forcing students
to present in front of the
class and give them a
choice not to

|＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿|
\ (•◡•) /
\ /
—
| |

— leen (@softedhearts) September 8, 2018

You’ve GOT to be kidding me with this. School can be stressful, and no. Speaking isn’t everyone’s strong suit, but there are a LOT of subjects that aren’t everyone’s strong suit. Should we allow kids who aren’t as strong at test-taking to opt out because they’re better at VERBAL tests? I mean, this is the kind of insanity we’re talking about here.

“Nobody should be forced to do something that makes them uncomfortable,” says Ula, a 14-year-old in eighth grade, who, like all students quoted, asked to be referred to only by her first name. “Even though speaking in front of class is supposed to build your confidence and it’s part of your schoolwork, I think if a student is really unsettled and anxious because of it you should probably make it something less stressful. School isn’t something a student should fear.”

“It feels like presentations are often more graded on delivery when some people can’t help not being able to deliver it well, even if the content is the best presentation ever,” says Bennett, a 15-year-old in Massachusetts who strongly agrees with the idea that teachers should offer alternative options for students. “Teachers grade on public speaking which people who have anxiety can’t be great at.”

“I get that teachers are trying to get students out of their comfort zone, but it’s not good for teachers to force them to do that,” says Henry, a 15-year-old also in Massachusetts.

Listen up kiddie winkies. This is LIFE. There was NO ONE who hated public speaking more than me. NO ONE. You should’ve seen me in speech class. I wrote out my speeches and literally had SHAKING HANDS. My voice was crackly. My heart rate skyrocketed. I had ALL THE ANXIETY. I panicked for DAYS ahead of presentations and speeches. I occasionally woke up in the middle of the night with sweats. But guess what? I did it. I got over it, and I’m glad I did. Were others better than me? Absolutely. I’m still not the strongest speaker, but I know I won’t get better unless I push myself and PUT myself in situations that make me uncomfortable. You should’ve seen me before we were all on Fox News. I was FREAKED. Daisy practically had to caress me in the back of the cab on our way there. You know how much WORSE I would’ve been if I hadn’t been made to speak in front of people in school?

It’s just dumb. Almost everyone I know– even people who are good at speaking– get nervous before presentations. That’s normal. Let’s not make this something it’s not.