“Calm Down” · Tue Jun 20, 23:31 by Eleri Straker
I had the strange feeling today that I’ve lived into a time that I don’t particularly like.
This is an odd thing for me to say and I’m surprised at myself. However, my experiences today and yesterday make me think that I don’t like where I am today. To be strictly accurate, I don’t like the way kids seem to have changed. Perhaps I’m being over sensitive, but I don’t think I’m one of those sad souls who frequently moan about the fact that things aren’t like they used to be.
Of course they’re not. They’re not meant to be. Things have moved on and so they should. But when did it become acceptable for kids to be so damn rude?
A colleague of mine was furious after a lesson yesterday as a very pleasant year 10 student had, when my colleague asked him to behave, told him that he (my colleague) was “pissing him (the student) off.” My colleague is a nice guy. He’s straight as a die, but doesn’t suffer fools, gladly or otherwise. So what gave this charming fourteen-year-old the right to be so rude to him?
While my friend was “pissing off” this student, I, in another classroom, was being told by a twelve year old to “Calm down.” The reason for this was the fact that I’d suggested that throwing paper aeroplanes might be a bad idea and when he stared me straight in the eye and carried on regardless, I’d thrown him out of the classroom with a very large flea in his ear. Outside the room, he told me I was overreacting and that I should calm down. Needless to say, this did not have the effect the student wished. I don’t normally shout, but…the whole corridor heard every well- enunciated word of me “calming down.”
And if that wasn’t enough, I had a whole class being rude today. They were being prepared for their year 8 assessment. At least, that was what I was trying to do. They, on the other hand, were flicking bits of paper at each other and drawing all over their test papers. And answering back. And singing!
I’ve mentioned somewhere else that I worked for years with dysfunctional children who had real problems and not one of them was deliberately rude to me. Any sign of rudeness, a simple comment that what they were doing or saying was inappropriate, would be met with a genuine apology. This lot today is so busy knowing their rights, which are clearly much more important than mine, that they see absolutely nothing wrong with voicing their opinions. They have been brought up to believe that they have the right to say what they like about everyone and every thing, as if the whole world was interested in the views of spotty little oiks with no manners and even fewer brains.
I’m very aware that expressing views like this makes me sound like a serious old fogey, but I see no excuse for blatant rudeness and a total disregard for others. If I can put up with the tantrums of spoiled, over-indulged darlings, the least they can do is learn to respect others and shut up.
