01.18.06
What did she just say?
Heidi and I have a morning ritual of going to our favorite coffee bar every morning after we drop the kids off at school. It’s just down the street from our language school, and occasionally our teachers will stop in on their way to school. This morning Barbara came in. The bar was full, and she asked if she could share our table. We made small talk for a while. Then I asked her if she is teaching at the university in the afternoons after she’s done with our classes. She sort of rolled her eyes and said she was student teaching at a high school.
And then she unloaded on us. She told us how mean the kids were. She’s teaching English and she lamented their terrible accents. She couldn’t believe how poorly the students spoke after five years of classes. She told us about a girl who was supposed to bring some photocopied handouts every day to class, but for some reason never brought them. She asked her why and the student said something along the lines of “because I don’t give a *$%@”
The story continued … one day she walked in the room to find the classroom’s crucifix turned upside down with a pornographic picture taped on the wall above it. Apparently that warranted a visit from the school’s director, who scolded them all but in the end didn’t do anything to punish the students.
The language got even more colorful when she described the girl who came to class with a belt that had the F-word written all around it. I cringed a little as she quoted the bad language that the students use. But, at least in this classroom, the teacher just shrugs her shoulders and wonders aloud what they can do.
And therein lies the rub. Apparently if the schools punish the students, the parents will pull them out of that school and take them to another one. Which means the school loses money. Which means that no one ever bothers to discipline.
It was certainly an interesting conversation. And it kind of makes me wonder what happens when I drop my kids off at school every morning.