The Mistake of “Fronting Off”
The mistake of “fronting off” is one of the most common mistakes Teachers make with Latino students, and/or gang members. “Fronting off”, means to belittle, embarrass, command or challenge a student in front of their friends. It usually is prompted by some kind of disobedience, disruption, or defiance by the student, that is “fronting off” the teacher. There are usually plenty of daily opportunities, before and during class, for a student to “front off” a teacher, and for a teacher to “front off” a student, but the wise teacher refrains from using this as a technique for gaining control over a situation. Most teachers probably don’t purposely front off, or realize what they have done, while others simply don’t care. Others care, but lack the self-control to avoid making this mistake, once they have been fronted off, and embarrassed themselves. The lessons to be learned to avoid the “fronting off” battle are:
1. Correction without relationship leads to rebellion
2. Meet the students’ demand for public respect first, then privately earn yours.
Some simple examples of how the above two lessons present themselves as opportunities are:
1.) When a student comes in the classroom late, talking loud, and disrupts the teacher.
2.) When a student is talking to friends, etc., and the teacher is trying to give instruction.
3.) Or it can be a student who is doing nothing, and the teacher decides to point them out in front of the whole class and commands them to do something.
These three examples provide the teacher with an opportunity for a relationship that could very well cause this student to become very productive in their classroom if the teacher is willing to exercise or acquire some basic skills in tactical maneuvering of building relationships. When the student fronts off the teacher, it is very important for the teacher to assess the situation and quickly think about the proper response, since the whole class is usually watching. This takes practice, but can be a learned response in time. In too many cases, the teacher gives in to the easy, reactive behavior, of saying something loud, negative and embarrassing to the student. This technique may work sometimes, with some kids. But for the most part, the teacher has now contributed to a problem that could go on and on, which inevitably ends up in the teachers’ favor, by a win/lose solution of getting rid of the problem/student, rather than, working to find a win/win solution. Even if the kid submits at that moment, the problem will most likely continue. The student will usually retaliate at some point during the remainder of the class or the next day. Why, because they have to “save face” to maintain their status and respect with their friends. They know their friends will “cap” (Latino slang for make fun of) on them after class, after school, and in the neighborhood. The more “capping” one receives, the more they are under pressure to retaliate to prove that they are not going to let the teacher “front them off”, or “punk them” (slang for making somebody look weak; sissy, etc.) like that again! Otherwise, they become someone considered “weak” that can be picked on by others with no “pay-back”. This is especially true among gang members.
As one 22-year-old L.A. gang member put it, “The schools weren’t teaching me anything. The teachers just saw me as a trouble maker, and their prejudices kept them from seeing if I had any potential at all.”
“Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.” – John J. McCloy
In most cases, like the ones described above, the best thing to do is nothing, at that moment, if at all possible. The wise thing is to wait until you can deal with the student one-on-one, in private, and begin to try to build a relationship. I realize this may, or may not be possible, as each of these kinds of incidents are judgment calls by the teacher, based on a variety of factors. These include: the history of the individual(s) involved, the history of your interaction with the individual(s), an understanding of the bigger picture and long-term impacts of your decision. It also depends on who is witnessing your response, what time during the class the incident is taking place, and how many are involved. It may be that you have no background or experience with the student, and it is the first time you are dealing with him or her, in which case, a different response would be called for as opposed to one from a teacher who is familiar with the student. I am not suggesting that the teacher can, or is expected to, always have the correct response, or that the right response will necessarily “fix” the problem at the moment. However, I do suggest that if the teacher makes the choice to exercise the principle of humility, it would solve many more problems, rather than the usual negative reaction that perpetuates them. It would also serve as a positive model for the other students in how to professionally handle a difficult situation. Your ego will be bruised a little, but I have found that a humble response, in the long run, has gained me much more favor with the problem student, as well as, the rest of the class. One key in this kind of strategy is that the student knows they have done wrong, and using this approach, in most cases, will drive that conviction even deeper. They also know that your courteous and respectful way of handling them was right, and allowed them to “save face”, which goes a long way, with gang members in particular. Your non-action wins respect because you chose to give it, instead of demand it, in front of the other students. Deciding not to front them off has now put them in your debt, which is something they understand and will want to pay off. They will usually pay back the favor with classroom cooperation, after you deal with them privately, and may get others to follow, as often times, the one doing the “clowning” is the leader amongst their peers. I have personally witnessed the power of this principle over and over again throughout my twenty five plus years of working with Latino youth, whose potential is often buried in shame, pride, anger and a street culture that does not value American education. If teachers, who get fronted off, can look past the outward behavior, and focus on trying to build a respectful relationship, they could help turn around many problem students.
