--- title: The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no" — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no"», a lesson of the world course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Someone draws on the board while the teacher is out. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/) / The whole class punished, and "you did… # The whole class punished, and "you didn't say no" Lesson 168 of the world course of Mova's primary school: 23 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/0/) — Someone draws on the board while the teacher is out. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/1/) — Nobody owns up. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/3/) — That is called collective punishment, and it is not fair to the others. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/4/) — A cousin of it is judging the whole group by a few: "Year 5 are the noisiest class ever", when half sat silent and two boys were noisy. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/5/) — A class is lots of different people. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/6/) — Another trap is "you didn't say no". - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/7/) — Max asks for Freddie's rubber, Freddie is busy and doesn't hear, and Max takes it. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/8/) — But silence is not a yes, and a shrug is not a yes either. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/9/) — Only a clear yes is a yes. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/10/) — Some targets keep moving: Table 3 finish first, "too rushed"; they finish last, "too slow". - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/11/) — And some words get stretched: "I'll think about it" is not "I promise". - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/12/) — Kids push back on the reasoning, not the teacher: "Miss, Alfie sneezed. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/13/) — Is the zoo cancelled because of Alfie's nose?" Fair rules are clear before the start, and they are about who did what. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/14/) — Punishing a whole group for what one person did is called collective punishment; it is unfair to those who did nothing. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/15/) — Judging a whole group by a few of its members is a hasty generalisation. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/17/) — A shrug can mean "I don't know", "I'd rather not" or "maybe"; only a clear yes is a yes. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/18/) — You need a real yes before taking something or doing something to someone; if they don't answer, ask again or wait. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/19/) — Many people find it hard to say no, so it is kind to ask in a way that makes saying no easy. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/20/) — A threat far bigger than the thing it is about is called a disproportionate threat; a fair rule is one you can actually keep. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/21/) — Changing the target each time someone meets it is moving the goalposts; fair rules are clear before the race starts. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/22/) — Being near a problem is not the same as causing it, and the person who reports a problem often deserves thanks; blaming someone for being near is guilt by association. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/24/) — "I'll think about it" is not a promise; stretching what words mean to suit yourself is called equivocation. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/168-the-whole-class-punished-and-you-didnt-say-no/25/) — Words people use: "bruv" means brother or mate (London), "no cap" means honestly, "this is giving group punishment" means this looks like group punishment (young slang), "man" at the end of a sentence is just for emphasis, and "Sir" and "Miss" are what pupils call teachers in Britain. - ← previous: [The rumour that grows](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/) - next →: [Bets, dares and silly reasons](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/169-bets-dares-and-silly-reasons/) - ↑ back to [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/)