detention and water
yesterday, while running the detention room at a certain middle school i will not name, i was repremanded on numerous occassions, one of which was the result of my painting. of course the woman who relieves me for lunch sits and does crosswords and reads people magazine. the fact that the administration perceives my activity as unacceptable and hers as acceptable is frightening to me. i won't even being with the apathy of the kids. how they simply sit there and stare at the walls from 8 to 3 is perplexing to me. of course their teachers don't seem to care enough to give them any work, and without using physical force i simply cannot get these kids to read. i cannot get them to draw, i cannot get them to have a conversation. in the end, it just makes me feel like our world is doomed. as my grandfather used to say, "we're headed for hell in a handbasket." i don't want to feel this way, but frankly sitting in a room with these kids all day is amazingly depressing.
they complain incessantly about being there, and yet they are there because they've done something "bad." they simply refuse to take any responsibility for their actions, and don't understand the punishment. i spent much time trying (with compassion) to explainto one of them why calling someone a "fag," and then proceeding to knock his hat off his head is NOT acceptable behavior. after an hour of discussion, i simply couldn't convince him the one's sexual orientation is indeed biological. he just wouldn't buy it. he said, "maybe people wouldn't mess with him if he decided to stop being gay." only moments later, as i was explaining to him the the greatest majority of intelligent people in this world read quite a bit. he replied, "i don't read at all." somehow, he failed to miss my point entirely. but then writing about this wasn't my point either this morning. i want to write about the rain. the unexpected water that is washing away my idea of a long ride. the weathered prayer flags that move in the slight wind. paper cranes twisting. maybe keri and i will bundle up and splash through the puddles, skidding the leaves. perhaps i'll head up into the hills, for it is only water after all.
"art is a result. it is the record left by those who have truly lived their lives. those who have genuinely lived their lives will leave behind the stuff that is incontestably art."
~ Jane Urquhart
Posted by jeff pitcher at January 21, 2006 08:59 AM
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Nice post, Pitcher. Thoughtful and well-crafted. More like this.
Posted by: Lumpy Rumpdragon at January 21, 2006 01:43 PM
Snicker. You care what 7th graders think. Heh. Loser.
Posted by: Ghost at January 24, 2006 03:16 PM
In a perfect world you still would have been reprimanded for a different reason: for painting ugly pictures. My god, man, that's one ugly couple.
At least in subbing you can think, "Maybe they'll get their shit together and be smart after all." I have the same kids when they're 18-21 and they're just the same. I frankly don't think it's a new issue. Jospheus commented about how crappy the kids were too and he was alive during Jesus' day.
Posted by: Christian Kiefer at January 24, 2006 11:26 PM
Hello,
I've been following your challenges with your work for several months and I just wanted to empathize. It really sucks having a job that is so terribly, terribly unfulfilling most of the time. You can't work harder than your students to create something more for their lives. I've always found it excrutiatingly painful at times to see how little some want or expect from themselves and their one precious life. I also though wouldn't assume you have no impact. Sometimes it takes years to realize how a teacher has influenced us. Just keep living from the heart and your passions and who knows, maybe one, maybe more, students be inspired to explore more about who they are and can be just from you being true to you. Keep painting and sharing yourself.
Posted by: Alexandra Saperstein at January 27, 2006 07:50 AM
Hi Jeff,
Oh thank god I am not the only person who feels like this about kids in school...... I too am a musician working in the public school system -- it has got to be one the most uninspiring environments humans have created! I recently heard an interview with Buffy St. Marie -- the interviewer wanted to discuss Native issues but Buffy wanted to talk about creativity and kids. When she made the comment, "Kids are bored to death in school" I thought, it's about time somebody said it! She has a website called The Cradle Board Project which is quite interesting.
Don't despair -- some kid(s) will see/hear you/your words through the haze and be altered -- they file things away for future use.
Cali
P.S. - I work with K's -- they look at my nose-ring and say, "What happened?" I love it!
Posted by: cali at January 27, 2006 08:30 PM
Can you take your guitar into classes? Best of luck - I hope you get your own class soon, kids will love your classes!
Posted by: lynn at January 28, 2006 02:08 PM
RE: motivating students to read, I recently had success (I teach remedial reading) getting students interested in "A Place to Stand" by Jimmy Santiago Baca. Really interesting story of a man who could not read or write, learned in prison, and emerged an award winning poet. He "keeps it real" as I told them (it's true; he does).
Posted by: Kate at February 10, 2006 08:16 PM
