I learned quickly as a 5th grade teacher to never begin a question with the word “WHY” when addressing a student with a discipline problem. In the student’s mind, their “why” answer validated their behavior. It gave them a platform to articulate, often in a defensive tone, the foundation of their perfectly logical reason for their actions. I found that asking “WHAT” was more applicable in most situations.
For example:
Myself: “Why did you push him?”
Student: “Because he pushed me first/cut in the line/called me a name, etc.” or insert a hundred different 10 year old reasons here.
So I would ask the question in another way, to hold the student accountable for their behavior.
For example:
Myself: “What did I just see you do?”
Student: “I pushed him!”
Myself: “You could have hurt him. What could you have done differently next time?”
Student: “I could have told you”, “I could have ignored him”, “I could have walked away and stood somewhere else.” etc.
I become very frustrated when the national media doesn’t ask Hillary Clinton hard questions. Between her lack of willingness to even speak to ‘we the people’ in an unscripted arena and the media’s pattern of not holding her accountable with serious questions, I would like to submit a few questions to Mrs. Clinton that the press won’t ask. Using my teacher experience, I will not ask her ‘Why’:
1. When have you personally been a victim of your so-called War on Women? Since annually over one million American babies are aborted, will you do anything to stop this War on Babies or do you support it?
2. What does it mean you ‘misspoke’ by claiming that in 1996 you were under sniper fire in Bosnia and had to run with Chelsea to safety, when in fact videotape shows you both walking calmly to a welcome group where an eight-year-old girl read you a poem?
3. Last month, when you said all your grandparents were immigrants but in fact three of the four were born in America, did you ‘misspeak’ again or do you not know your grandparents very well? Is ‘misspeak’ the new ‘what IS is’ type of Clinton speech?
4. Did you or Bill sign up for ObamaCare? If you did join, how do you feel about being charged for services you will not utilize, for example maternity coverage?
5. Do you think the demotion of four people at the State Department, rather than firing them, is adequate punishment for the horrible tragedy that took place at the Benghazi Embassy in 2012 when four Americans were killed by terrorists – including the first American Ambassador to die in the line of duty in over 75 years?
There are a lot of questions Mrs. Clinton is going to have to eventually answer if she is asking for America to consider her for President and our Commander-In-Chief. A lot more…and we look forward to hearing WHAT her answers will be, or will she use that teacher questioning technique and maybe say, “ WHAT difference at this point does it make?“
That’s an easy answer, Mrs. Clinton. It makes all the difference in the world to our nation. We await your answers.