I recently watched the documentary "Waiting for Superman", about the education system in the U.S. and how it is failing kids. The stories in this film, and the school districts they choose to highlight, are really interesting and often depressing. Teachers unions, tenure, teachers, administrators, bureaucracy, and many other issues in our educational system are discussed and shown in detail. It depresses me to think about all of the kids out there who are lost, looking for support, but can't get any at home or at school. It brought some of the experiences I've had working for a school system into sharp perspective.
I was thinking about the movie today as I was subbing for an 8th grade English teacher. For the most part her students seemed average, but it is sometimes hard to tell because even the good and motivated students will still take advantage of a substitute teacher. I had some especially difficult kids my last period of the day. The assignment was to fill out a packet with arguments and evidence that will eventually be written out as a persuasive essay. These four or five kids, all sitting in a row, didn't write a single word on their packets for the entire period. Instead, they talked about smoking, weed, sex acts, orgasms, 1001 Ways to Die, and a variety of other topics that would normally be strictly off limits in a classroom. On top of that they had their phones out. I ended up taking one of the phones away because the girl was blatantly texting.
One girl in particular, C, was a mess. She was wearing extremely tight clothes, her boobs were falling out of her shirt, and she had a lip ring (remember, C is in 8th grade so she's probably 13 or 14). The instant I saw her walking down the hall in the morning I knew she was going to be trouble. The way she walked and carried herself said "I don't give a flying f***". She walked in to the room for her class period and slammed her books on the desk, looking up to see if I'd do anything about it (I did not). Then she sauntered around the row to get to her chair and fake-punched a kid on her way. She was disruptive, obnoxious, mean, and a bully to the kids around her but they clearly revere her for her lack of care toward teachers. I chose my battles today and I was not going to have one with her.
Watching that movie made me think of her differently than I might have normally. It is easy to say, "What a mean spirited person. What is wrong with her. She needs to straighten up." Instead, I thought, "She must have the worst home life I've ever heard about." At the end of the day I mentioned C to the next door teacher and he said her life story is so bad it could fill several novels. What a disaster, to have a life wasted by whatever conflict is at home and to be such a difficult student that teacher's have probably given up on her.
On top of watching the documentary I'm also reading the book "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv, which discusses the current lack of any connection kids have to nature. This is my personal cause, the one that I have so far dedicated my working life to. It is imperative that kids get a chance to connect with nature in a way that is free and without direction. To simply explore a field on your own or with friends allows the senses to act fully, allows the mind to focus on something other than life issues and problems. It gives kids the freedom to concentrate on a leaf, a beetle, a tree, the sky, a field of daisies. In his book, which I haven't finished yet, Louv discusses the therapeutic power of nature and the chance it offers for kids to simply run and play freely (and keep off the pounds). The combination of documentary and book have caused me to fear for the future of this world - a future where kids know about deforestation in the rainforests of Brazil but not about the white pine tree right outside their school's window.
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