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Way to go, Austin High School! Make it clear to any good-hearted person coming out of college with a desire to help (and no sense of financial self-preservation) that teaching is a spit-upon, worthless exercise in catering to the lowest of common denominators. The kids of tomorrow will be fucked by your efforts, but at least the graduates of today will be saved from falling into your clutches.
Having said that, dear employers throughout the country... read the following very carefully:
You do not own your employees or their lives. Adult existence is not G-rated. What I create and see and do and believe in my free time is none of your fucking concern. Mind your own business and shut the hell up.
Thank you in advance.
CNN.com - Art teacher in hot water over topless photos - Jun 16, 2006
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Until they found the topless photos, Austin High School officials considered Tamara Hoover an excellent art teacher with a knack for helping students find their creativity.06-17-2006 03:33:04AM - Permalink - Comment [1] - Trackback
A lotta stuff in the news lately about bullying in school, as several planned attacks were thwarted.
I was picked on extensively early in grade school, when I was only medium-sized and four-eyed... and there was a really bad period in the seventh grade, where I was messed with quite a bit. On the flip-side, I had one experience where I was the bully in high school. So I've got a broad perspective here.
My first question is: how are things escalating the way they are? Yes, I was picked on, shoved, and mocked... but if you actually laid hands on me, I would go beserker on your ass. Wih a normal bully, that will generally calm things down. They figure out quickly that messing with you past a certain point is going to have clearly defined, public consequences. It also earns you a bit of respect.
Where are things going wrong? Are kids not fighting back in conventional terms, storing up the rage until they go nuts? Or are the bullies themselves morphing into something bigger than before? The bullies don't seem to be shooting people, so I suspect it's more the latter than the former.
With that said, my alternate experience makes me wonder what happened to the power of shame. The one time I joined in picking on a smaller, younger kid in high school, everyone from the principal to my dad basically told me what a pathetic, disappointing pussy I was for doing such a thing. They made me feel like a complete piece of shit, and it worked. I never even considered picking on anyone again.
Have people simply forgotten that being ashamed of bad behavior is actually a good thing? Have we let our legitimate concerns about fractured self-images take us to a point where we're not even allowed to feel shitty when we do something shitty?
04-23-2006 10:20:31PM - Permalink - Comment [1] - Trackback