I know Dante didn't make WAITING one of the circles of hell, but he lived in a different lifetime, and he probably didn't have children.
With the onset of omnipresent technology, teenagers are more willing to "wait" for something to happen (whatever the hell that might be), because while they "wait", they are sitting on their asses on the couch with their phones in their faces and the TV blaring stupid, loud, noise.
So when my 14-year-old tells me that she's going to her friend's house "later", all that means is, "fuck off, I'll do something eventually ... maybe." It's all a ploy to get me to leave her alone so she doesn't have to actually DO anything, because she's "just about ready" to go somewhere (a time frame which might last 15 minutes or six hours). It's truly ridiculous.
Why do I care? Because she's not fucking doing ANYTHING, besides cramming her phone in her face and watching shitty reality TV shows. I would prefer to do something with her (which I have tried to do several times - her attention span is about 15 minutes with me, but four hours with Jelly Splash), or for her to have a hobby (god forbid), or to actually leave the house, so it's quiet and I can read my book without hearing Nev's voice in the background talking about some dumbass being catfished.
...
To be honest, I just walked away from writing this and tried to get her motivated, so we played catch in the living room with a tennis ball for about an hour, and then she told me (for about the 20th time) that she is still waiting for her friend so they can hang out. Such bullshit. Just get the fuck up and do something.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Criminals and Idiots
One of my fellow educators (an old man, if that matters) said to me last week that most of his students are either criminals or idiots. Wow, does that make me sad. Why would a person be an educator of young people, if that's his opinion of his students?
I met a kid a couple of weeks ago - he was a second semester transfer, a senior, who had been kicked out of four high schools already. My school was his last chance. He only needed four credits to graduate. He's a truly good soul, who got all wrapped up in the wrong group of people, specifically gang members.
For some reason, this kid clicked with me. I think it's because he would say super inappropriate things, and I would immediately call him on his bullshit and tell him how NOT to be a dumbass and make bad choices. He was not my student (only in my study hall), and I only had him under my direct supervision for about a week, but I took it upon myself to check up on him and talk to him. He would wander into my classroom in the middle of any given class and just start telling me things or try to talk to all my students. They didn't know what to do with him. ADHD = wandering = getting into trouble. But there is nothing but good in this kid's heart, so I did any and everything I could do to listen to and help him.
He was in the school for all of about a week, when he got suspended for telling one of our female teachers that he wanted to curve her. While that's inappropriate, all that needed to be done was to have a conversation about not saying every single thing which comes into his brain. Honestly, I think that HE thought it was a compliment. (Obviously, that's not how you talk in school.)
Anyway, he is now MIA. He broke into a former foster parent's house last week, he's now on the run, and he's fucked. No more public school for him, only incarceration. Last chance blown, friend.
And yet, I still feel bad for him. His family life is nonexistent, he's been in and out of foster care for most of his life. He's in a gang. And, as a a matter of fact, he told me that the only way he'd ever get out of that gang was in a coffin.
I just hope he's wrong. I hope he doesn't end up a life-long criminal. I hope he gets his GED. I hope he knows that he can be a good person, even though his family and his life is pretty fucked up right now. I hope he doesn't kill someone or get killed by someone. I hope that he finds the good in himself that I can see every time I speak to him. I hope he's okay.
I met a kid a couple of weeks ago - he was a second semester transfer, a senior, who had been kicked out of four high schools already. My school was his last chance. He only needed four credits to graduate. He's a truly good soul, who got all wrapped up in the wrong group of people, specifically gang members.
For some reason, this kid clicked with me. I think it's because he would say super inappropriate things, and I would immediately call him on his bullshit and tell him how NOT to be a dumbass and make bad choices. He was not my student (only in my study hall), and I only had him under my direct supervision for about a week, but I took it upon myself to check up on him and talk to him. He would wander into my classroom in the middle of any given class and just start telling me things or try to talk to all my students. They didn't know what to do with him. ADHD = wandering = getting into trouble. But there is nothing but good in this kid's heart, so I did any and everything I could do to listen to and help him.
He was in the school for all of about a week, when he got suspended for telling one of our female teachers that he wanted to curve her. While that's inappropriate, all that needed to be done was to have a conversation about not saying every single thing which comes into his brain. Honestly, I think that HE thought it was a compliment. (Obviously, that's not how you talk in school.)
Anyway, he is now MIA. He broke into a former foster parent's house last week, he's now on the run, and he's fucked. No more public school for him, only incarceration. Last chance blown, friend.
And yet, I still feel bad for him. His family life is nonexistent, he's been in and out of foster care for most of his life. He's in a gang. And, as a a matter of fact, he told me that the only way he'd ever get out of that gang was in a coffin.
I just hope he's wrong. I hope he doesn't end up a life-long criminal. I hope he gets his GED. I hope he knows that he can be a good person, even though his family and his life is pretty fucked up right now. I hope he doesn't kill someone or get killed by someone. I hope that he finds the good in himself that I can see every time I speak to him. I hope he's okay.
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Nebraska, The Good Life (?)
I am sitting at my kitchen table having a glass of wine. It seems like the only rational thing to do, when I can't go outside because the wind would probably blow my fat ass into my neighbor's yard.
My trash was literally EVERYWHERE when I came home from work, so I gathered that. My basketball hoop is in the middle of the driveway, in pieces. The door to my shed BLEW OFF the shed and are laying in the yard. One of my ornamental fences is hanging in pieces off the metal rods. My lawn furniture is, well, everywhere. And pieces of maple tree are littering my yard.
So, I figure if I sit in the kitchen and write about it for minute, maybe the huge tree in my backyard will simply split apart in pieces and crush me, so I don't have to deal with cleaning up the mess.
If Chicago is the "Windy City", I don't know what to call this shit storm which is Nebraska.
My trash was literally EVERYWHERE when I came home from work, so I gathered that. My basketball hoop is in the middle of the driveway, in pieces. The door to my shed BLEW OFF the shed and are laying in the yard. One of my ornamental fences is hanging in pieces off the metal rods. My lawn furniture is, well, everywhere. And pieces of maple tree are littering my yard.
So, I figure if I sit in the kitchen and write about it for minute, maybe the huge tree in my backyard will simply split apart in pieces and crush me, so I don't have to deal with cleaning up the mess.
If Chicago is the "Windy City", I don't know what to call this shit storm which is Nebraska.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)