This was going to be about something totally different…I’ll probably get to that in a second. But first, I have to mention that I was just asked to walk into the boy’s bathroom and bust a possible drug deal. I’m like, WHAT?!. Me? But since I was the closest male teacher, I had to walk in all tough and check things out. I admit, I didn’t know what I would’ve said if I walked in and two students were making a drug deal. This was what’s going through my mind as I walk in. What if it’s true? What do I say? “Hey you! Get over here now.”? Does that work? Am I sufficiently scary enough for the kid not to bolt? Turns out that whatever kid was there had left by the time we got there. And I was relieved. AND I got to act all manly in front of the female teachers.
In other news, I’ve had a substitute working with me in my co-taught classes the past three days. This woman can talk. She basically didn’t stop talking to either me or my students the entire day. About anything and everything. She was very helpful, but half and hour into the class my students were giving me looks. You know, the she-won’t-leave-me-alone-to-do-my-work-and-I-hate-doing-work looks (that’s a guiness book record for longest hyphenated word…look it up!)
My co-teacher and I do the good cop/bad cop deal, but not on purpose. I’m just really laid back most of the time and he’s got a short fuse. I worried that, without him here, the students would be a real problem. He’s definitely more of an enforcer than I am. However, miraculously, the students behaved better the past couple of days. When I was talking to my students about the great amount of work they were accomplishing, they told me that Mr. _________ gets on them too much and makes them not want to work. I do like the fact that they’ll do work for me. Makes me feel like I’m doing something right.
And last…conversation with a student yesterday:
“Mr. _________, I read somewhere that teenage boys think about sex every 6 seconds. Is that true?”
“I’ve heard that too.”
“But I don’t. Look, 1,2,3,4,5,6! I didn’t think about sex that whole time.”
I had a long, depressing conversation today with the technology specialist and another teacher about student morality and motivation. The good part about it was I realized that I’m not the only one who feels like this crop of students (whether it be this generation, this age or this area) has no drive. So, on a lighter note, I present this argument:
Should this country legalize marijuana and tax the hell out of it? Or is legalizing drugs the next step in the declining morality of this country? Not that I’m obsessed with Jack Cafferty, but this was the topic of his commentary on CNN.com today. His argument is based on the budget crisis in this country and the immense money-making opportunity of regulating pot. While this may or may not be a good idea (I’ll get to my opinion in a second) he doesn’t hit on whether or not it’s likely. Nate Silver, over at fivethirtyeight.com, addressed this topic a couple of weeks back. His analysis is based on public opinion polls, which shows that, currently, about 40% of the pubic is in favor of legalization. It would take quite a bit of idea-shifting to get a majority and push through that legislation.
My opinion? People have demonized marijuana as part of the “Just Say No” war on drugs campaign from the 80′s. While it’s a fair way to address the subject, I think it’s unfair to call it a gateway drug and still be alright with cigarettes and alcohol. I think all three come down to family and personal values and should not be the domain of the government. I did a quick Google search and found (this is, of course, approximate) that there are 12.1 million alcoholics, 9 million drug addicts in this country and about 21% of adults smoke. I don’t hear anybody calling for prohibition or cigarette bans. Marijuana has never been shown to be a cause of death. You certainly can’t say that about alcohol.
Just because something is legal does not mean the public will all jump to participate. Ever been to Vegas or Amsterdam? Did you hire a prostitute? Why not? Because it wasn’t something you were interested in. If you aren’t interested in smoking pot, you won’t. Same reason you don’t smoke cigarettes. I understand the label of “gateway drug.” It’s the first drug that’s readily available when you’re growing up. But that doesn’t mean people will do harder drugs. I believe that drug addicts have bigger problems…it isn’t the availability that’s the problem.
Treat pot like alcohol. Illegal until you’re 21. Strict penalties for public consumption and DUI. Then teach your children why moderation is important and that smoking is really bad for your health. Tell them drugs are bad. Have that conversation when they are young and continue to have it. Other countries have lower or no drinking age. Some have legal or decriminalized pot laws. Do they have the drug and alcohol problems we have? I guess I’m really asking there, I don’t know. But I suspect not.
I’ll start with my embarrassment. It gets really warm in my classroom because I have no control over the heat. And I’m standing and walking and teaching all day. And I forgot to put deodorant on this morning. I think my students were wondering why I wouldn’t go anywhere near them.
The girl that I “yelled at” yesterday came in after school for extra help and apologized for her bad attitude. She told me that I made her feel bad. I told her I know. She brought her friend that also was slacking. I guess it’s reassuring that these things actually work, that I can still motivate students to try harder in class. Sometimes I feel pretty helpless in that department, especially when a topic is confusing and they all have trouble. But that’s the struggle of teaching I guess. Get through to them any way you can.
A student told me she started drinking coffee because of me. I told her it’s been my dream since I started teaching to make a real difference in a student’s life.
During class, another teacher walked by with a bicycle wheel and an umbrella. When my students asked why, I told them that’s how he gets to work every day. They almost believed me.
And finally, I just heard of a new way to get high. It’s called jenkem. It’s gross and I don’t know why anybody would resort to doing something like that. Why does it have a name and why do American students know this exists? If you need to resort to sniffing fermented feces to have a good time, maybe you need a hobby.
