A new teacher guideline meant to bring students and teachers closer together may end up driving them further apart than ever before. Capturing Kids Hearts (CKH), is a training program that all of D51 teachers took over summer.Many District 51 parents and students are not aware of the CKH program. 

What is this training exactly? Some teachers have said that it is a program designed to make teens feel more welcome at the highschool. Using tactics such as asking about a students day, getting to know students, and getting students to interact with each other. This all seems to be delightful to add into the school’s curriculum.  However, when I interviewed the students they gave me a much different answer. 

When interviewing students almost all reported that they felt they were being treated as toddlers in grade school would be treated. The major thing that seems to displease the most is when teachers form a T with their hands,to simbol a ‘time out’ for the students. A student who wishes to remain anonymous said, “It feels almost dehumanizing, like they don’t believe we are capable of listening when asked.”  words such as “dehumanizing,”  “babying,”and “untrusting” were used to describe how students felt towards the new treatment.

In an effort to reach out to students, has the district got it all wrong? Maybe not all of the CKH training is bad but some things may need to be looked over and revised for years to come if teachers ever really hope to capture kids’ hearts.