Teaching & Verbal Vomit

I honestly can't believe the level of entitlement and apathy crawling through the hallways of high school.  I understand the Breakfast Club ideology, where the janitor tells the grumpy teacher that the kids aren't getting worse, he's just getting old.  Maybe that's true.  Maybe I'm bitter.  Maybe 21 years teaching is too many.  And maybe, kids are getting worse. 

Here's the thing:  High school often sucks.  I was a fairly shitty student myself.  I barely passed through my senior year and I skipped classes almost every day.  I get it.  But I'm fucking exhausted from caring on behalf of other people.  Their apathy rubs off - it's toxic. 

According to the Washington Post, 17% of teachers quit the profession in the first 5 years, and another 8% quit annually.  Teaching can be very fulfilling, but it also has a tendency to take over your life.  As an English teacher, the mountains of paper alone are enough to drive a person completely mad.  I have over-achieving AP students who push themselves to be better and more educated, and I have seniors who can barely read, don't know what punctuation is, and actively bitch every day about having to do basic tasks. 

Here's a thought:  high school is not for everyone.  What are we doing keeping all kids locked up in school until they're 18 years old, when not all of them need to be there?  We should be encouraging students to graduate early, to take classes online, to figure out what they want to do, and then help them do it.  Yes, some people need all four years of high school.  But not everyone.  It's a waste of time and energy and resources to force students who hate school and refuse to participate to stay enrolled.  Let them go.  No Child left Behind sounds like a good motto, until you realize that some children systematically try to be left behind. 

A high school diploma should be earned.  Many students just expect it to be handed to them, even if they do nothing.  And some teachers, counselors, and administrators will bend over backwards to fudge grades - just get little Johnny to a 59.5% so he passes.  Move him along the system, even he can barely read and hasn't turned in a single assignment all semester. 

That's bullshit.  School should be a meritocracy.  You should have to EARN a diploma, not just show up periodically. 

Change.  One of these days I'll figure out how to help change this nonsense.  Or, more likely, I'll end up in that 8% statistic who leaves.  The only thing keeping me here right now is my paycheck and my benefits.  If I could find any way to leave here, I'd already be gone.