KIMBERLEY MORRISON 

Have you ever found yourself sitting in a class of 100 or more people and thinking, “Damn, this lecture is putting me to sleep faster than a David Attenborough documentary after I’ve taken Benadryl.” We’ve all been there. But if a lecture is boring, try your best to keep your mouth shut.

I am in my fifth year of arts and science and trudging through a few 100-level prerequisites. One thing I have noticed about my Native Studies 107 class is the tendency for the students to yap. The class is large, so it’s seemingly easy for a student to yammer away without any consideration to others in the class.

I’ll admit that I am guilty of the occasional quick whisper to my friend, but I am talking about a total lack of  attempts to be quiet. The general disrespect that is shown to the professor and the students who are listening and engaged is astonishing.

In one instance, a young woman was sitting maybe five seats down from me. For the entire hour and a half of the class, this individual talked to her friend at a volume that would piss off Helen Keller.

It got to the point where I was totally consumed with getting her attention with my fierce glare. Half way through the lecture, we finally made eye contact. I furrowed my brow even further and mouthed very clearly the words “Shut up,” but to no avail. She was too thick headed to notice that roughly six students in the vicinity were giving her the rancid stink eye.

This rude individual is not alone in the class, unfortunately. The majority of the Pinterest-surfing students are guilty of loudly yammering about topics unrelated to the fur trade or Bill C-31.

While this is merely one example, I’m sure we can all think of an instance where someone in our class was being disruptive.

I know that it is difficult to pay attention in cramped desks while listening to depressing material for an hour and a half, but be respectful of everyone around you. I’m not above admitting that I have trouble paying attention, so I shamelessly bring knitting with me to make sure I keep busy enough to keep my mouth shut while I listen to the lecture. Try it. Your neighbours will thank you.

In many larger classes I’ve found that several students have the irritating habit of getting up to leave a lecture half an hour before class is scheduled to end. Not only is this disruptive to everyone around you who’s bombarded with the sound of your backpack zipper, your clanking water bottle and your boot heels, but it is beyond rude to the lecturer.

Even though our tuition is paying the professor or guest speaker at the front of the room, they have put their time and effort into the lecture material they are presenting and they deserve the chance to present it in a respectfully quiet zone. This should not be news to anyone, considering most students in university are bloody adults.

I’ve had numerous classes that have had guest speakers and lecturers, and on more than one occasion they have felt it necessary to comment on the disrespect that has been dealt when people get up early to leave. This is especially true for 100-level classes.

As a class member, I find this behaviour unbelievably embarrassing and immature. Unless you have an urgent phone call you must take or you are on the brink of explosive diarrhea, sit the fuck down.

If every day you come to class and leave half an hour early after you have spent the last hour talking to your friends, it really isn’t necessary for you to show up at all.

Call me a fascist or an old-school grump, but there should be a general code of behaviour among students in class when you reach the post-secondary level.

Get your head out of your ass and recognize that your actions impact those who are trying to learn around you, as well as the lecturer’s ability to keep focused.

For the love of all that is holy, shut up in class and sit down until the professor says you are dismissed. Thank you.

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Graphic: Mike Tremblay