Buffy the Vampire Slayer · Fri Jul 14, 19:20 by Eleri Straker
I have long been a fan of cult fantasy TV series and particularly, as mentioned elsewhere, of Buffy. It’s a wonderful, iconic and very clever concept, deftly blending humour with a metaphor for teenage angst and problems. The writing is clever and surprisingly literate and I’ve used the programme to demonstrate many themes during my lessons.
But the other day, I heard of another use.
A close friend of mine, working as a home tutor to a school refuser, confronted by a particular problem, called on the Slayer for help.
Meeting her new charge for the first time, my friend found the student truculent, rude and completely closed off. With years of experience of special needs children at her back, my friend refused to be daunted by this troubled child who, apparently ‘ate home tutors for breakfast’. She discovered that this child had a passion for Buffy and realised that she had a way in. By the end of the first session, with my friend refusing to allow her charge’s extreme rudeness and unpleasantness to put her off, she found herself being offered a Buffy DVD to take home. Success indeed.
My friend took the Slayer home and did some studying.
The next day, returning to her charge, she told the child that she would be going out, but in the guise of someone else. The student, who refuses to go out at all and had, up to now, refused to leave the house, was intrigued. She asked who my friend was going as, and my friend replied that she was going as Buffy. She then opened her handbag and took out a stick, sharpened into a stake, “In case I meet vampires,” my friend confided. Her charge apparently stared at her open-mouthed but grinned when my friend added that she could accompany her if she came as Willow. Then she took out another stake from her bag. After all, a trip to the library could lead to conflict with vampires…
My friend’s charge was completely entranced and two vampire slayers made their way to the local library.
It’s a small step forward and many backward ones will probably follow, but it’s a start. What it shows is, that in order for a teacher to reach pupils, we sometimes have to get inside their heads and make a link, using whatever we can.
Like my friend, I have used unorthodox methods to reach a difficult student, but when it comes to reaching the truly lost, I too have found that calling on the Slayer seems to work.
