Saturday 15 November 2014

An Antipathy: Why I Now Hate Basketball?


Why are my students late in class after recess time?
Why do they smell like rotten cheese plus sweat?
Why can’t they answer whenever they are asked to simplify radicals or enumerate how to cure Pneumonia, Malaria and Diarrhea, or even remember when the deadline of their baking contribution is?
                                                                                                                                                       
All of these questions would tell you why I hate basketball now.

Two of my Grade 9 students used to bring their balls to school to play during break time. One of them was an honor student who failed to make it in the second quarter.  The other isn't really that excellent in the class, yet trying hard not to fail his subjects. The rest of the boys, if I may describe, are eloquently talented and smart as well. However, they haven’t recognized their potentials. What is common to them all is that they love to play basketball and they love doing it no matter how many times their parents tell them not to.

Who wouldn't love basketball? Who wouldn’t love to dribble, shoot and dunk especially when he is stressed out? Who wouldn’t look up to Durant or to our very own Fajardo? Nobody, I think. But, who would still love basketball if they fail their exams? Who would still love to dribble, shoot and dunk knowing that they haven’t done their assignments yet? Who would still look up to their idols as they enter the class sweating, looking tired and unprepared? The teachers wouldn’t.

That is why I now hate basketball. It actually:
1.       tires the students,
2.       loses students’ focus and interest in the class,
3.       causes undesirable aroma in the room,
4.       flies students’ minds up in the air (literally).

I might be too idealistic that I want my students to listen to me and do their part. Or, I might be too firm that I want them to act as prim and proper as they could be. Our school never hinders students to recreation. We never stop them from bringing their balls and playing at break time, but I soon will. I just can’t take that bad perfume!




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