#gran torino: get out of my class and go sit in the library. we're not policymakers; we're not the healers of the world

[shih-coulda-had-it]

Opinion on BNHA AU where along with Hero work, the students (and All Might) are also thought about methods of helping improving society, not just simply taking down villains?

I’m always in favor of incorporating more realistic practical lessons into U.A.’s hero course (though, we are limited to the first years; moreover, we’re limited to Eraser Head and All Might’s understanding of teaching, which you have to admit--isn’t totally locked down), but this often wars with my desire to suspend disbelief regarding Horikoshi’s worldbuilding.

There was this one fanfic that was like, really good about this without going too gritty/grim about the reality of a gamified pro-hero society. It was about 1-A (maybe 2-A, too?) doing some activity with the business course, where they learned how awful government red tape is when filing damage/insurance reports.

Anyways, off the top of my head, good (questionably legal) activities for 1-A to have done:

The Red Tape Task -- students are given a prewritten mock damage report, and a stack of blank insurance claims. Using the prewritten report, they will determine which insurance claims need filing.

Tartarus Field Trip -- students attend a tour of the Worst Prison Complex Imaginable. Because they are first-years, they stick to the top level buildings and only receive lectures about the security measures used to contain villains. The purpose of the trip is to give students some perspective on the consequences of being a hero. Yes, you will save people. But supposing the villain you fight causes too much damage before they are subdued, you will also consign people to actual hell on earth.

USJ Saturdays -- students rotate through the various disaster simulations within the building. You can tell so much money was invested into that facility, so you BET the teachers should be capitalizing on it.

Mandatory Volunteer Work -- if you’re going to be paid by the government, then you’re a servant of the people, and you should probably get to know who the people are. 

However, if by “methods of helping improving society” you meant, ‘deescalation training’ and ‘getting involved in public policy and administration’--they’re teenagers, your honor.

I’ll throw a bone into the discourse, actually:

I don’t know what readers expect 1-A to do with regards to answering the demands of Shigaraki Tomura, Dabi, and Toga. There’s no good answer that, say, Kaminari (much less Mineta) can give to the idea of rehabilitating unapologetic remorseless murderers. I don’t even know if there’s a good class that exists in a liberal arts college (Ethics 101? idk) that can guide teenagers into critical thinking re: villain motives and preventative measures.

Help improve society. What does that mean for a professional hero, who doesn’t even have the power to arrest a ‘villain’? Donating their money to charity foundations? Donating their spare time to civilian projects? Retiring to pursue political office? Isn’t that the equivalent of an actor running for governor, or a billionaire TV presence for president? (*cough* I’m not bitter about this at all)

Give 1-A the task ‘What can you do to help improve society, and lower crime rates?’ and they will point to All Might’s Symbol of Peace/Pillar of Society.

It’s no longer the right answer, obviously, but it’s the one they know.