Whatever happened to...

This week was fairly tough.
As a beginning teacher both in the sense that this is only my 2nd year out of university & also that I've only just started at a new school I feel I haven't yet 'earnt my wings' enough to, well, have a whinge about kids today. I'm only a young'un myself & like to think I'm fairly easy going, but the kind of rigid arrogance & foulness teachers are forced to go up against on a daily basis is definitely bewildering & frustrating.
When I was asking a girl what she had to gain from cheating on the Premiers Reading Challenge she told me to get the f*ck out of her face.
When I asked a boy not to swing on his chair because I'd seen people get injured from falling that way, another boy chimed in with "I'll injure YOU in a minute!" (This was 2min after he'd returned to the room from being given a behaviour monitoring booklet outlining his simples goals: 1) Complete all work 2) Follow all instructions without argument 3) No swearing, bullying or threatening behaviour.)
Another girl told me point blank that I was 'gay' for putting their class in a seating plan. She later said she had to go to a 'gay' detention, given to her by a 'gay' teacher because all teachers were 'gay'.
Jeez, we must be a 'HAPPY' profession!

I'm only on my 9th year out of school myself & while I know we may have been jokers or clowns at times, we were always respectful. We knew when to stop & we also knew that we would never, ever, EVER swear at or even in front of a teacher & if we did, we had to be prepared for the hellfire of consequences that would rain down upon us & deservedly so.
These days however, the words are so occasional & are so ingrained into the everyday vocabulary that it is an extremely hard task to get the students to modify this practice or even just use some better adjectives!
Me: "Good Morning "Blah", how are you today?"
Blah: "SHIT!"
Me: "Hmm, could we maybe use a better word? If you're not feeling well, how about 'Awful', or even 'Not the best thanks'.
Blah: "Nar".
Me: "Why not?"
Blah: "Cos that's fucken shit!"

Facepalm!

It is truly a double edged sword. On one hand when students swear at me, trying to insult, upset, offend etc it actually makes me laugh. There is something satisfying being polite to those who are seeking to upset & I can see the confusion in their frontal lobe lacking eyes when their words fail to reach their mark. It's taken me a long time, but it seems like I'm becoming immune to the words due to substantial immersion in them, although this is also sad that it's had to come to this.
On the other hand, it is also extremely sad to know that the F & C words is all that they have & it is definitely not much. There is no evident reason, semblance of logic or developed perspective. They barely take the time to absorb a statement before they fire off a string of ignorance, showing that they have an exceptional lot to learn. If only they'd stop railing against education & wearing down those who are trying to give it to them.

For now, the above song from Chicago seems perfectly apt. It is sung by a murderous songstress & a corrupt prison official who use double negatives & colloquialisms within the song to describe how the entire world has gone 'low-brow'.

Whatever happened to fair dealing and pure ethics and nice manners?
Why is it everyone now is a pain in the ass?!
Whatever happened to class? Class!

Whatever happened to "Please may I?" and  "Yes, thank-you" and "How charming!"?

Now every son of a bitch is a snake in the grass! 

Whatever happened to class? Class! 

Nobodies got no class! 

Luckily, this need not apply to everyone as I had dinner with some fine upstanding gentlemen last night who are a sterling example of class & sophistication. I'd been looking forward to this occasion ALL week & through all the rancid spewings of F's & C's & 'gay's' the knowledge that I'd be amongst such venerable company kept me flying. After a tough week, it was a splendidly classy evening of good food, good music, grand company & conversation. There are somebodies out there that got no class, but fortunately, they can be blanked out & left to their own devices, to make of the world what they will. While they do this, enjoying mediocrity as it were, I shall continue doing the same in my own way.... amongst ever-classy compatriots!

xox