I just read my girlfriend Tamira's post about her thoughts on why we have so much violence in our society and schools today. Her reasoning revolved around the social caste system that we have in our country and the messages we (teen-age girls, primarily) are getting from the media that being mean and nasty to each other is acceptable.
Here is what I responded to Tamira's post:
I'm not sure that it is the caste system, that we ignore that we have in this country, that is to blame. That system has been in place for YEARS and kids didn't come to school with guns twenty years ago like they are now.
I think we live in a society where it is completely acceptable to act on your every whim. I think that is why we see so many more men fucking little kids and why I have more students mouthing off to adults. For some reason, it is now acceptable to act on all the things that go through your head rather than letting them do just that, go through your head.
I have a student that is in third grade and was just hospitalized for bi-polar disorder. He has beat me up more times, in the last month and a half, than I'd like to mention. I don't think that what would have happened to this child twenty years ago is acceptable, but how far to we have to let kids go before we put a stop to it or get them the help that they need?
Why isn't it ok to say no to things that are wrong anymore? "Oh, that is just how he is expressing himself" or "She can't help it, she has a chemical imbalance" or "People can do what they want to in private."
I think the pendulum has swung too far and we are accepting of unacceptable behaviors because we have to be PC. I had to be very careful in how I dealt with this child, not only because he has a very severe disorder, but because the school district was scared that his parents were going to sue them. I couldn't always do what I thought was right because I had a little director of special ed sitting on my shoulder reminding me of what could happen.
This leads me to my next question, why do I keep doing what I do? At this moment, I don't have an answer for you. I enjoy being around children and helping them succeed. What I can't take anymore, are the politics that surround the public schools and the parents that push me over the edge. First, I understand that there will be politics in any job that I may hold in the future, I'm just sick to death of the ones in my field. Secondly, when did it become completely acceptable to go into a school and tell the teachers exactly how they should teach teach your kid?
Seriously, I don't tell our accountant how to do my taxes! I give her my input, but trust that she knows more about it than I do. I've gone to school for 6 years and taught kids for almost 9 years. I think I know what I'm doing by now. All I ask for is a little faith in my knowledge and experience. I understand that you know your child best, as one parent justified a few weeks ago for making rude comments to me. However, I know a little about how to teach too.
That said, what else would I do if I didn't teach? I'm sure teaching students with special needs is a bit like teaching adults with short attention spans. I'm also quite confident that I could get just about any organization organized quickly. The problem is, would it feel as worthwhile at the end of the day?
