We all have to serve somebody, just like the words of the Bob Dylan song...
From a world of narrow experience, I decided whilst still at school that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, and since I'm a person that likes to follow through, that's what I became.
My day....
I awoke before the alarm, but wasn't wearing my glasses.
I glanced at my phone, and thought it was a turd, at first, but then my brain woke up and I realised I'd been awoken by the message ping from a dick-pic.
I searched around and found my glasses eventually.
I got to school at 8:30 am, which was fortunate, since I was on Breakfast Club. Lucky I'd prepared the day before because breakfast club requires going directly from making toast and serving Milo to assembly, roll call, and the laws of the jungle.
The first hour and a half, marked on my timetable as "10 minutes of quiet reading", but in reality, 10 minutes of breathing deeply and removing over-sharpened pencils from students jabbing their peers, picking pencils up off the floor, encouraging students to read, keep their hands to themselves and sit in their seats, seemed interminable; followed by an hour of "Grammar, spelling and literacy", when I hand out exercise books, worksheets, demonstrate the lesson - aim and instructions, and float around to offer assistance and gauge their understanding; recess, invariably spent cleaning the floor - while I ask myself where on earth they got the glue and paint; followed today by the Life Education Van, a respite from lessons, but still requiring professional supervision...
The lights went out in the van as the students viewed an education video about bullying. Imagine the presenter's surprise when an all-in-brawl was silhouetted on the screen, arms and fists flailing, as punches were thrown, and later, a boy stabbed another in the crotch with a pen. Intervention was swift as consequences were meted out for behaviour which, if they were adults, would result in court appearances. The last hour of my day, the students nominally completed maths work sheets, but really, it was just another opportunity for mayhem. After an unrelenting day of this, while barely containing my sense of trauma and defeat, I attended a staff meeting. All of the senior hierarchy being away, I heard how it really was for my co-teachers. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the level of suspensions and detentions being meted out for serious breaches of behaviour rules. (There are rules?)
What I'm observing first-hand is the birth of the "me-generation." My students are eight years old. They have zero sense of shame about their behaviour. They lie, they cajole, they charm and manipulate like practised pros. They appear to have no conscience or sense of right and wrong. Their behaviour is self-oriented and attention-seeking. They defend their corner with absolute, if unwarranted, conviction. They seem to know their rights, but none of their responsibilities. They exhibit a dire lack of empathy. Yes, they are children and these things develop with maturity. But I'm observing the future drivers of society, and frankly, I'm concerned.
https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/gotta-serve-somebody/
Image: School playground in Outback Australia
