perc2100 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Hello Everyone, I am a former teacher with a daughter marching her second year of drum corps. I have a question and would love to see some heartfelt and realistic discussion. At what point does the staff go from teaching to abusive and what can be done by the performers in this situation? Thank you for your kind response. I think in general anytime a teacher badgers or berates a student it could be perceived as crossing the line towards abuse. Anytime teaching is done via negativity is NEVER a good thing, and I've heard and seen some pretty awful 'gems' as far as staff abuse, but it happens a lot less now than it did "back in the day." On the flip side, I've seen maybe just as many, if not more, instances when a student/member takes things the wrong way and interprets a correction as "abuse" or "yelling at me." It's not uncommon for a student to feel uncomfortable being called out in front of their peers, and what is in reality a teacher correcting a student is perceived by said student as embarrassment, demeaning, negative, etc. If the student happens to be the one person who is constantly making mistakes and is constantly corrected, that feeling of embarrassment and discomfort is heightened. I'm not implying anything in regards to your post: I'm merely shedding light on the other side of your question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREENBLUE Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Which corps is your daughter with? (Well, why not?) Gonna take a wild guess and assume its not Madison or Cavies :) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlamMan Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Gonna take a wild guess and assume its not Madison or Cavies :) Are you sure about that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardmomandfan Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 No good could come from naming names in this forum. You are exactly right, I am not going to name her corps. I am just trying to get a feel for what is normal coaching behavior in DCI and what is not. Having never had the opportunity to march, I have no insight to give to my daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bari Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 (edited) I would imagine that somewhere kids have been abused in Drum Corps and that they have been abused in every way abuse can be dished out, That being said, if the "abuse" is that the kids are being rode hard and put away wet, or someone is catching a ton of flack for not being able to hold up their end of the bargain... I do not see a lot of sympathy coming from these boards as when I marched... The staff basically broke us down and started fresh and forged us from steel! If my mother had come around and wussified the whole experience, I would have never had the same desire to succeed that I do today, nor would I have the stuff to back it up! So if your daughter is just being beaten up and you are concerned... Do yourself and she a favor and let them forge her from steel and make her more than she was before she left the house! :thumbup:/> Edited July 23, 2013 by Big Bad Bari 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 (edited) I would imagine that somewhere kids have been abused in Drum Corps and that they have been abused in every way abuse can be dished out, That being said, if the "abuse" is that the kids are being rode hard and put away wet, or someone is catching a ton of flack for not being able to hold up their end of the bargain... I do not see a lot of sympathy coming from these boards as when I marched... The staff basically broke us down and started fresh and forged us from steel! If my mother had come around and wussified the whole experience, I would have never had the same desire to succeed that I do today, nor would I have the stuff to back it up! So if your daughter is just being beaten up and you are concerned... Do yourself and she a favor and let them forge her from steel and make her more than she was before she left the house! /> As rough and gruff as Anthony can be, this is sage advice. Encourage her to not personalize what the staff says and stick it out. You'll be amazed at what she becomes when you encourage her to toughen up like she's never had to before. Edited July 23, 2013 by garfield 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CACTSC Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 You are exactly right, I am not going to name her corps. I am just trying to get a feel for what is normal coaching behavior in DCI and what is not. Having never had the opportunity to march, I have no insight to give to my daughter. In general, you can expect it to be more intense than in any normal school situation (high school band or high school athletics). Anytime you live with people 24/7 and are rehearsing numerous hours a day, sometimes instructors will let it all get the best of them and perhaps say something they shouldn't. Likewise members can do the same. Usually calm will be restored and everyone continues on. However, if your daughter (or someone she's asking about) is feeling like they are being harassed above and beyond an occasional outburst then you might have reason to be concerned. The problem is of course that you have to know your daughter/friend to know if she can take criticism or if she gets upset at any correction. Being called out can be difficult but usually it's the same for everyone - and lots of people get corrections every day in every corps. You'll need to know if it is more than that to decide if there's an issue. (I marched for 7 years and had a kid march for 4 - I've seen a lot of different teaching styles - some good and some really bad, but I would never put up with abuse toward my kid - it's just hard to know without being there yourself!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleKnights Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 You are exactly right, I am not going to name her corps. I am just trying to get a feel for what is normal coaching behavior in DCI and what is not. Having never had the opportunity to march, I have no insight to give to my daughter. Without naming names, I think you could give us an idea of what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schickmeister Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 #purplefontband 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Closed (at authors request). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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