Mr Hague : I mean, all right, everybody, this is Mr. Hague, and today I have a guest for you. And she has been my student for multiple classes. We have Miss Yatziry Ochoa, who is in charge. Or actually, you’re involved with what now?
Yatziry: Peer mediation.
Mr Hague : And Yatziry, you are what?
Yatziry: I’m a senior
Mr Hague : I knew that yeah. And you’re only way to Boise State. Go Broncos.
Yatziry: Yeah.
Are you excited?
Yatziry: Yeah I am
Mr Hague : You should be. Well you’re going do great there. So she is a great student and she’s took four of my classes.
Yatziry: Yeah.
Mr Hague : Four that’s amazing. And I definitely I’m thankful for that. And of you know, one of my very best ever that I’ve had over in the school and I mean that.
So Yatziry, it is, in charge of a peer mediation, which I guess, in a way. Why don’t you explain what peer mediation does?
Yatziry: Well, in a way, it’s about being able to resolve conflict between students. So it’s mostly when two students are having an argument or more than two students or having an argument, they are given a choice of instead of being disciplined with a detention, a suspension or an expulsion, they get taken to peer mediation, where two other students are able to resolve the conflict by talking it out and for them to decide what they want it to result with.
And did you watch the. Well, I didn’t watch the Oscars, but maybe you have. But I know for a fact that most people on the planet watch the slap. Will Smith smacking I can’t say here, but I mean smacking the crap out of Chris Rock.
MrHague: Yeah. What do you think about that?
Yatziry: I think that things could have been handled differently, of course.
I mean, that wasn’t the right way of answering his reaction. Like, his reaction could have been different. Like, oh, taking him outside to talk and stuff instead of just smacking him across everybody to see and like, pretty much the whole world to see because it was online and everything. My myself did not see the Oscars either, but everybody did see the slap.
Even I did, and everybody has different opinions, you know, and a lot of them are like, oh, good, good job for doing it. And many, including myself, agree that things could have been handled differently.
MrHague: Okay, I didn’t understand what the big deal was because to me, that’s what Chris Rock does. He is a comedian, he roasts people and you’ve got to have a certain sense of humor.
But Will Smith is also a comedian, so he should know this. But I kind of think that he took the cue from his wife. And, you know, the wife gives him the side eye and he’s like, okay, I better do something about it. Otherwise she’s going to do that to me.
Yatziry: Yeah.
MrHague: So my question to you is, what is the main reason why you think that two students are a group of students are actually having a conflict that may result in fights?
Yatziry: Well, there’s many scenarios. There’s like the two girls falling for a guy and the guy just paying attention to one or paying attention to neither. There’s that one or there’s the smack talk, like there’s rumors going around and one of them is spreading the rumors, or one of them is hearing about the rumors and still talking it with everybody else.
That’s usually the two main scenarios going on a lot during anything but, yeah, it’s pretty much them arguing and a lot of maybes. They’re like, oh, maybe they’re talking about me. They’re talking smack or or maybe a lot of maybes. They don’t really know for certain, but that’s when someone reacts in the way they do. Or body language.
Body language is a good one too. The way someone walks across someone else or appears in self in front of someone that can create tension also.
Mr Hague : okay. Stop right there. So in other words, as a teacher, if I see like a student and I’m like, okay, I’m going to pretend here, I’m like, okay, you see the like like like I’m like moving away, like get away.
so the kid would actually, like, get offended.
Yatziry : Yeah.
Mr Hague : Really? Body language. I guess. You know, I can understand that, but, to me, unless I hear something, I. I guess I just don’t get offended. I mean, I’m used to being mocked at and made fun of and, you know, people made memes of me and put them on all these things.
All these things, I mean, yeah, yeah, they put my head on a giraffe. They said the size of his ego. Anyways, yeah, it was bad. But anyways, I, really interesting how. I guess it’s just perception then.
Yatziry : Yeah, it’s mostly that’s what we always do when me and my partner always have to be mediating someone. We’re always like you just thinking and not really knowing for sure.
And you’re just bringing it up even more.
Mr Hague : And how often are they wrong to make that assumption?
Yatziry : They’re usually it’s a 50/50
Mr Hague : Really. So in other words, the, the, the the reaction. And or rather the, the body language is actually real. So if you find someone you don’t like you have a certain body. Oh yeah. But why would it be offensive to the other person. Like who cares?
Yatziry : Okay. well it’s all depending. Okay. So usually the body language, you could see it more when they want to fight you. So when someone’s already starting to crack their knuckles, that’s body language that they’re like,
Mr Hague : Crack the knuckles?
Yatziry : Yeah. If they’re coming up to you and they’re cracking knuckles. And I was your knuckles.
Mr Hague : You what if you hurt your yourself?
Yatziry : I don’t know, people do it. Okay, okay, I don’t know. I don’t like this, but, Yeah, if they if you’re already hearing rumors that they want to fight you or they want to jump you, and they’re already coming up to you with cracking knuckles or the common one.
The common one is when they’re passing by you. They look to their friends and they start laughing, and then they walk away. Or they keep on like they walk away and you’re like, behind them. But they keep looking back and they keep laughing. That’s a common body language that a lot of girls have problems with.
Mr Hague : Just girls, not the guys, just girls.
Yatziry : The guys are more like, I don’t care. And we’ve actually only have one problem with a guy, but it’s a guy getting involved with a girl fight, not him. Okay? Having a fight?
Mr Hague : Yeah, I went to Arizona State and there was a fight every weekend, and it usually involves two guys and one girl. You know, one guy is talking to a girl that he thinks he can, you know, go further with, you know, I’m not going to say how far, but I’m just saying further with and all of a sudden another guy cuts in and starts talking to the same girl, and then all of a sudden you got fists flying.
You know, it’s just crazy to me. It’s just not worth it, you know? But oh, it’s not it’s not worth it. So let me ask you this. So what about social media? post things like that. And why do people get upset about that?
Yatziry : I mean, who wouldn’t get upset about that?
Mr Hague : Yeah, I don’t care.
Yatziry : Oh, you just you don’t mind because you see it more as a joke, more things like that. But some kids take it too far, okay?
Mr Hague : I mean, people mock me all the time. And Facebook, you guys are not on Facebook because you’re too young for that. Yeah, I know she laughs about. Yeah, Facebook and Twitter.
Yatziry : You know, it’s like, those are for old the people.
Mr Hague :Yeah. She’s not my student anymore. If she was it costs her some serious points. But at any rate, I just, I guess I, I don’t unless the person is in front of me. I don’t see the problem, you know, because I’ve learned a long ago that, I mean, emails could offend me, but I’ve learned along, you know, sometimes what people write, it’s not what they think. Oh, because especially if they the people type emails with capital letters and they say, I need you here now.
And, you know, I think, oh my God, I better do something, you know, or it’s really serious. But then they’re like, I call him up and what’s the matter, you know, or can you explain? What do you mean by this email? And they’re like, can we talk?
Yeah. nothing. So why did you use capital letters? Oh, I did this like you’re like.
Yeah. Oh, I don’t know. I just, I guess I don’t know. Are you not supposed to. And I’m like so yeah. And that’s but can see how, but it’s not to the point where I’m gonna throw fist.
Yatziry : Oh well no of course now because it’s not that bad. But like for us mostly like what’s seen in the social media is, oh, she’s a I don’t want to cuss.
Mr Hague :Yeah. No that’s fine
Yatziry : It’s usually it’s like oh she’s a bitch or she’s a ho or like a thought going over there, you know, you know what thought it is right. Yeah. Okay. I was like, I don’t know if you really thought,
Mr Hague :I’m around you guys to know enough of a lot of things. Yeah.
Yatziry : They’re like really descriptive with things they do.
Mr Hague : I was told I was swag and what I was like, what is that?
Yatziry : You didn’t know was swag.
Mr Hague :No, I didn’t, and then finally I found out I was like, oh, thanks for the compliment.
Yatziry : Oh don’t worry, I know someone. I won’t say a name. That thing that lol means lots of peace. So lots of peace, lots of peace.
They thought that, well, they actually used it once in a funeral. They were like they were like rest in peace… lol.
Mr Hague :Okay that’s horrible. That is so bad I can’t even begin to tell you. Wow.
So you know, I needed to make sure you knew what that was. Just being sure. Why don’t you explain to our people who are my age what thought means?
Yatziry : Okay, so thot means that ho over… that thot.
Mr Hague :Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Yatziry : Okay. Did you think it was t h o u g h t?
Mr Hague I thought it was.
No, I didn’t think it was that bad. I thought it was that that and never mind. So. Okay. Okay. So the thing is that I guess your generation has their own language and their own little literature, you know. it’s amazing how you can come up with these new words yet most of you don’t know how to read.
But anyways, the it’s just kind of a bizarre scenario. First of all, I love your generation. I think your generation is. So I would really fit in well with your generation, but I, I just adore them. I mean, I adore my, my students. But again, there’s a huge difference. You know, like, one thing I noticed is your generation will not walk side by side with a teacher.
No, no, you’re just, like, so weird. It’s weird. But in my generation, my time will. When we walk next to a teacher, we’re cool.
Yatziry : Trust me. Like, I know how that feels. And yeah, there’s just. But my friends are like, you’re so weird. Why do you walk right next to your teacher?
Mr Hague :Yeah, yeah. It’s like we’re just chatting. And when you chat like some, you know, they’ll take two steps ahead of me are the way out on the right side. But, I guess anyways, I understand that actually some, some students, in your generation, kind of find that kind of offensive or weird that you’re kind of talking to an adult or something like that, or kind of weak, which is really a bad perception to have.
Yatziry : Yeah, they’re mostly just thinking of like old teacher’s pet.
Mr Hague :Yeah, exactly. Okay. I have a lot of students who accuse me of having too many teacher’s pets, and I’m like, no. And they said, oh, well, he’s your favorite or she’s your favorite.
Yatziry : Oh yeah, for sure. They always say that.
Mr Hague :Yeah, they all say, okay, well whatever. And I said, no, you’re my favorite.I always come back like, oh, you’re my favorite cause you’re my favorite. Yeah.
Yatziry : You have many favorites then.
Mr Hague :Yeah, well I do I mean you’re all tied for first, which means you’re also tied for last.
Yatziry : And they’re like, that’s cap.
Mr Hague :Yeah. Cap? What’s that? What is cap?
Yatziry : You don’t know what cap means?
Mr Hague :No. What is a cap? C A P . What does that mean?
Yatziry : So it’s like saying that’s a lie. It’s that’s a cap.
Yatziry : That’s cap.
Mr Hague :That’s cap.
Yatziry : So if you’re saying like. Oh, let’s see, what’s the lie that you could say that’s cap.
Mr Hague : I would say that’s that’s crap. So you just take out the ‘r’, Okay.So that’s cap okay. That’s cap okay. That’s cool. All right. There’s some students that actually bring in them. Hey that’s cap. Do you like this? Yeah, that’s cap okay. Anyway, so, so the thing is that I guess we’re just not understanding because I can understand, like, the fights between liking a person.
Yatziry : Yeah.
Mr Hague :And you’re saying it’s usually, girls, they get jealous of each other because a guy or two girls get jealous because they’re interested in a single guy.
Yatziry : Yeah.
Mr Hague :Which, by the way, never happened to me in high school. Okay. But, I’m saying. Or the guy, for, you know, I don’t know, not even I didn’t start dating until I was, like, 21. What that is. Yeah. Well, I mean, hey, whatever. Anyways, I’m more popular now as a teacher than I ever was as a student, let me tell you.
So, but anyway, so I’m just saying that it’s it’s just bizarre to me. So you said that if a guy is not interested in the two girls liking them. Then the two girls fight even though the guy doesn’t like them. Exactly why I do.
Yatziry : Because either either the guy doesn’t know. Either he’s leading them on because, you know, guys are pretty oblivious pretty much.
So they’re usually the girls are like, no, he likes me because he tells them something or he hangs out with them. But just as friends like homies. But girls don’t see it that way. Girls think like, oh, he’s texting me. He likes me or stuff like that, you know? Or he could be talking to one of them and be interested in that one.
But then all of a sudden something happens between them. And then he’s like, you know what? No. And then he talks to the other one, but the other one he started talking to didn’t know that he stopped. So then that we had a situation like that once, but, you know…
Mr Hague :and so what do you do in a situation like that?
How do you you sit them down and you kind of let them talk it out?
Yatziry : Yeah. We so we don’t really do much of the talking. We do. First a peer mediation prep, which is talking to one individual and then let them decide if they want to talk between them because it’s not we’re not forcing them to do something they don’t want to.
Okay. So we first get the version of them and then we get the version of the other one and then see who’s lying about something, because either they’re like, oh, I don’t remember. And that’s usually like a lie, because when you’re enraged or when you don’t like something, you remember what you don’t like. So we’re like Okay.
And then or they forget to integrate things that they did that the other person said and we’re like Okay. So this is how it actually happened. And we at the end of it we see it as an overall. So we piece together all the ideas and at the end we’re like do you guys want to see each other talk to each other.
And they’re like sure I’m comfortable with that or no I don’t want to talk to them. So then once they agree we sit them down apart cause that’s the easiest way. If together and they start having tension, they can really fast swing at each other and someone hit themselves. So that’s why we have them apart.
Mr Hague :Has that ever happened?
Yatziry : Someone’s swinging here. No, but we have heard cases of someone swinging at the other person.
Mr Hague :What do you do at that situation? I guess you got a call to the parent.
Yatziry : That’s where we just don’t meddle in it anymore. That’s more of okay. Just like, oh, we can’t do anything anymore. There’s. There has to already be a decision.
Mr Hague :Okay. So that’s that, because I hear there’s some situations here that even the police were involved. Oh, yeah. I mean, there’s weapons, not weapons like. I mean, there’s spray paint spray. What do you call those? Pepper spray? Pepper sprays and mace? I’ve seen, you know, situations not necessarily in this school, but other schools where somebody threw, like a phone at somebody and.
Oh, yeah, that’s crazy.
Yatziry : It gets intense.
It’s really gets intense. So I’m thinking, well, let me ask you this. How is their home lives, though? I mean, these people who fight,
Yatziry : Well, it’s pretty common, but it’s, you know, problems at home where they don’t they don’t get the attention they want at home, you know, or they have siblings, and they’re either the ones that are asked to do much, a lot of things, or they’re asked to have a lot of responsibility or they’re the ones that the parents don’t even care about.
They’re like, oh, they’re okay. That’s what I need to take care of. The other ones. It’s usually that. Or just like the parents, they are really strict, but they’re able to hide a different side of themselves. Okay. Yeah, because there’s a lot of that.
Mr Hague : So it’s the personality, of course, coming from their uprising upbringing or other not uprising.
The yeah, that’s interesting.
Yatziry : Or even the parents enforce it. They’re like, oh, she starts talking smack. You beat her. Really? You hit that, Oh, man, that’s crazy. Or defend yourself. You know, if they throw the first swing, then you hit them back. Yeah. I mean, don’t lead.
Mr Hague : I’m kind of a macho man, a little bit aggressive. I tell my son, and, you know, we have. I have a son. I said, if somebody pushes you around, just bop them. It’s just bottom. Yeah. Bop. That’s that’s, the 80s term for hit. but for the people, because. Yeah, that’s that’s that’s no cap. Okay. All right. So, so but of course I realized, man, you know, I don’t want to encourage anybody to fight, you know, because when I saw Chris Rock and the Will Smith incident, I was like, oh, my God, what are they teaching kids?
That’s not how you solve a problem. Doesn’t matter what generation you’re from. Yeah. So. All right. Well, anyways, I definitely learned a lot of new lingo here. And, I appreciate you coming in here. And definitely one of my very, very best students ever. And I missed having you this year. But anyways, you definitely are going to go different places and you’re going to be a psychology major, right?
So she’s going to be used to all this. Maybe a school psychologist. That’s the there’s a lot of job opportunities there. But so anyway, this is Mr. Hague’s with senior Yatziry Ochoa. One of my very best and brightest. And we are done. Take care.