The Secret Door My Students Can’t Resist
Why are kids so interested in getting thrown into dungeons? Seriously, that might sound crazy to you, but my students practically beg for it.
It started when I told them the decommissioned bathroom in the back corner of my classroom was the closet of doom. Instead of shying away from it, they got excited and almost immediately opened the door.
I started teasing them by saying things like “if you don’t finish this assignment, you’ll be thrown into the closet of doom!” Oddly, my threats had a less than desirable outcome.
Instead of getting their work done, they started raising their hands to be next in line to go in. So I kicked things up a notch and told them about the secret door inside the closet of doom.
“It’s a one way trip,” I told them. “You do not want to go into the dungeon. Level one is full of cockroaches!”
That worked for about 3 seconds. Now I constantly have students asking for a chance to go into the closet of doom to search for the secret entrance.
I’m at a loss. I’ve thought about warning them of what’s in the lower levels of the dungeon, but I get the feeling that will only fuel their desire to find the hidden entrance. But if telling them about these dangerous places doesn’t deter them, what will?
If anyone has advice on how to keep teens out of this sort of trouble, please let me know. I’m willing to pay gold for advice, though you’ll have to fetch it yourself. (It’s stuck down on level 5…)
