I am currently teaching a middle school art class for the next 2 months. It is essentially a dream position and I couldn't be more happy to be here at Hyde. I have mainly spent my time at Lawson and Cupertino middle schools, and find them to be my two favorite schools becuase the kids are really social, and for the most part respectful. I have always had a slightly less shiny perception of Hyde over the years. The kids are a lot less respectful and I am starting to see it again in the last month I have been here. It bothers me for several reasons, not the least of which that Cupertino is my home town, and these kids are it's future.

I came to school this morning to a pile of trash outside my door. Certainly not an unusual site anywhere let alone a middle school where kids are more concerned with what they are wearing and what video game consoles they are playing rather than what they left on the ground for some poor person to pick up after them later on. But there is a large group of 20 or so students that consistently hang out infront of my room for lunch and recess so I have a good feeling that it was probably their trash. So I decided to confront them about it and give them a gentle reminder that they need to be mindful of what they leave on the ground. What I got in return was quick excuses and snotty remarks that suggested that their shit don't stink and I need to take my thoughts elsewhere. These are 12 and 13 year old kids speaking and acting like the school is theirs to do as they please with.
It is a very unnerving experience if you have never been surrounded by school kids and experience disrespect aimed at you. It makes your blood boil in an instant, and gets teachers(no doubt unfairly at times) in trouble for lashing out. What is it that has our kids learning this sense of passing the buck entitlement?! And what really cooks me is that I know in my heart that this is not new and that I was even that same snot nosed bastard over at Kennedy middle school not 18 years ago! In this valley of capitalist paradise where money flows in rivers and cars are always new and houses get bigger each year, our kids are rotting on the inside. Maybe it's the shit food they eat, the shit they digest on TV, or the shit we are (trying to) pump down their throats in the form of education. It's definitely a shitty example these kids are following since I believe our kids are who we are.