What a day...

[Tri Girl]

It all really goes back to the parents, doesn't it? Why oh why are so many parents afraid of actually parenting?

Oh it most definitely does! Let's face it: it's HARD to be a good parent- it's much easier to be a friend. Too bad we have a big portion of this generation of selfish, spoiled kids coming up who don't know boundaries.

I have to shut my mouth...

[Veronica]

Last week I had FU B!tch written on my classroom window. I would have been more impressed if they had written it backward so I could read it from inside.

Veronica

[Tri Girl]

Last week I had FU B!tch written on my classroom window. I would have been more impressed if they had written it backward so I could read it from inside.

Veronica

Wow! That's crazy. I told my teammates: I KNOW I'm a B, I just don't need a bratty 11 year old pointing that out. I guess your window writer isn't quite clever enough to write it backwards. What a pity.
I'm just glad I get to school before this group so they don't know what car I drive. They have a 1 in 70 shot of getting my car, but I'm afraid if they knew which one was mine I'd have some damage to it. And there'd be no remorse whatsoever from them.

Only 4 more months... then we'll have two months to regain our sanity.
4 more months...

[Veronica]

I'm trying very hard to stay sane through this. Working out after work and yoga before work really help.

I'm just sick of waking up at 2 AM worried about how to reach these little brats. And staying awake until the alarm goes off at 4. I've had enough of being the only one who worries about their future.

And I'm tired of the enabling. "Oh the parents are having a hard time. They're just trying to make it through each day. Things at home are really tough." When are they going to learn be responsible, both the kids and the parents?

Veronica

[tulip]

Why do you do it?

[crazycanuck]

V..I too ask..Why do you put up with that crap? Í can't stand most school kids as they don't seem to have respect & are just wrapped in bubble paper. UGH.

Is there a teacher's college in California & can you get a position training new teachers?

This is why some people should be banned from having children. That and require a licence to have them.

Rant over..

[malkin]

Dang.

I work with hard kids, but that's what our whole program is for.
It sounds like you need more support.

[Tri Girl]

Yeah, V- why do you do it? A colleague told me the other day that she's tired of working harder than them (in the sense that she constantly is trying to keep up with their missing/late work and making sure they have what they need to bring home- when they don't care themselves to better their grades).

For me, this is the first year in 11 years that I've really questioned my career choice. I've looked into other fields, but to teach in college around here I need a doctorate (I don't even have a Masters), and going back to school at this stage in life to find a new career just isn't an option. I just need to find a different avenue in the school system. Librarian? Title 1 tutor? Deep down I still really love working with kids and helping them- I just don't know that a regular classroom teacher is for me anymore. I welcome any ideas of what I could possibly do with a teaching degree- besides teach.

Kids are just really different in the last 8 years or so. I don't know why.

I'll stop posting now. I'm probably just sounding like a jaded, bitter person who's seen too much and is disillusioned about what her career has become (but if the kettle's black...)

[Veronica]

There are times when I love my job. They are getting fewer. I love the conversations that you can have with kids this age. They are on the cusp of learning how to think and problem solve. They can be so creative. I love seeing their faces light up when they "get it." I love the curriculum. I enjoy planning out what I'm going to teach and how to best engage each group of students.

In the last 4 years the demographics at my school have really changed. We have a lot more section 8 families. I grew up on welfare and the issue isn't that they're poor. It's the lack of personal responsibility, the sense of entitlement. I think a lot of families are trying to move out of some gangish areas in CA, but they aren't changing their outlook on life and they are bringing some of that garbage with them.

In this particular class I have ten kids with some serious home or behavior issues. It's a very messed up group. You want to be compassionate, but at the same time, there are lines that they just can't cross.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Oh it most definitely does! Let's face it: it's HARD to be a good parent- it's much easier to be a friend. Too bad we have a big portion of this generation of selfish, spoiled kids coming up who don't know boundaries.

I have to shut my mouth...

That's it!!!! I have 29 students. 24 of them seriously think, "It's all about me." Forget about what anyone else needs. MEMEMEMEME!!!!!!!



Veronica

[sbctwin]

When my twin sis taught in East TX, she had a student throw a desk at her. She was scared of the kid. The parents came in and blamed her. She only wanted the classroom to be quiet so she could teach and this upstart didn't want to listen. She told him to go down to the principle's office. On his way out, he thew the desk at her. My sis had to stand on a platform to see above the podium to teach. The bully was on the football team...go figure. I am glad she is out of teaching...

[Tri Girl]

Scary, sbctwin. I'm waiting for the day. I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet this year. I had a kid come at me one time, but he tripped. heee heee

And they said the 80's was the ME decade (or the ME generation). They 'aint seen nothin' yet.

The old Whitney Houston song "I believe the children are our future..." I'm scared of the future. I believe in most of them, but for a good part- I'm scared of what they'll be like as adults. Very scared.

[Aggie_Ama]

And they said the 80's was the ME decade (or the ME generation). They 'aint seen nothin' yet.

I was born in 1981, yes 1981. I am DISGUSTED at the way the teenagers in my neighborhood talk, act, drive and behave. Last month we called the sheriff because one of the little darlings we peeling out in front of my house and drving about 50 in a 25 while kids were playing. This little punk doesn't even live here just hangs out here. This summer they were bored and thought buying 9 watermelons to throw around the neighborhood would be fun. Yeah and so were the thousands of ants and rodents in front of my house. DH can't stand them and he is only 10 months older than me.

My friends the teach middle school almost make me cry with their stories. One had to cousel second graders having sex and the parents were not concerned.

The kids that live around me are only 10 years younger than me but I would have a butt so purple I couldn't sit if I acted like they did. My parents didn't beat me, I think they were awesome but I did get one or two spankings and to this day I believe I deserved it and I am okay with the fact that I got it.

I live in a predominantly white, middle class, suburban neighborhood, very much the demographic and financial level I grew up in. It is probably more church going and community involved than mine, I tend to believe parents have gotten lazier. Maybe not but I am having trouble being swayed to other side.

[PamNY]

I was born in 1981, yes 1981. I am DISGUSTED at the way the teenagers in my neighborhood talk, act, drive and behave. Last month we called the sheriff because one of the little darlings we peeling out in front of my house and drving about 50 in a 25 while kids were playing.

Kids driving too fast is not a recent phenomenon. My cousin took us all on a 90 mph joyride when I was ten years old, and that was 48 years ago.

I do have every sympathy and much admiration for teachers, and I'm sure they see the dark side of social change.

Nonetheless, the "kids today are awful" chant has gone on since the beginning of time, and always will. It's comical as I get older, as the people doing the complaining are ones about whom I heard many, many complaints.

I do wonder why one report of a bad kid leads people to conclude that all kids are awful. If a woman aged 46 commits a crime, conclusions are drawn about her, not about all 46-year-old women. It's also true that news about successful young people doesn't generate cries of "All kids are wonderful!"

An interesting article in the NY Times touches on this phenomenon.

To be clear, this thread has wandered, and the article has no bearing on the issues of the original post.

Pam

[bmccasland]

V - you could come to Loo-si-Ana and join the ranks of the lowest paid school teachers in the nation too. So it could be worse.

Now don't you feel better?

Didn't think so. Being childless, I've wondered where the breakdown occurred that parenting fell off. Or rather when parents quit being responsible for teaching their kids basic manners and civility?

I chewed some neighborhood kids up and down one afternoon who were playing "Army" or something in the street, cause one of the boys pointed a gun at me. Unfortunately for him, the owner of the gun ("not My gun") had taken pain to scratch off the orange safety paint so it wouldn't look fake. I told the group that one N E V E R points a gun at another person - especially if they aren't part of your game. How was I supposed to know?!? I used to play "Army" or whatever when I was a kid, but my Dad taught me, Never EVER point your toy guns at someone who isn't part of your game. Furthermore, get some orange paint, and paint the safety ring back on the gun. Kids have been killed because police officers couldn't tell it was a toy being pointed at them! We then had a discussion on basic gun safety.

Their response was, "yes, ma'am". Gawd, I like living in the south, where you can still get away with yelling at your neighbor's kids. Did help that we were all the same race. Not sure I'd try it if they were all *pick your minority* as I'm white.