1st period government. Seniors. It was day 3 of All the President's Men (of 4 days). They had 30 questions to answer. Surprisingly, they had finally settled into the movie and I think some of them were actually enjoying it.
2nd period geography. Freshmen. A boy walked into class and freaked. So, I had to investigate.
There was a condom on the floor.
Great! Just what I need!
It was open but unused. But try telling a 14-year-old that.
I removed it to the trash can. And eventually the class moved on. (They had a movie of their own.)
But I'm left with a head-scratcher. What senior opened a condom and left it on the floor? To what purpose?
Obviously, I did not see the incident. But the only thing that I can think of is that a group of them reacted to something that was not on screen. It got loud in one small area for a minute. That attracted my attention. I shushed them. But whatever riled them up was not more than what I had been shushing them about for three days. So, I felt no need to investigate. (I wish I had.)
The next day I asked them why they wanted to sabotage me with the freshmen. Why would they leave trash on the floor? I didn't say what. And the boys who sat nearest the spot looked at me as if they had no idea what I was talking about. Or they had really practiced their innocent expressions. (My money is on the latter.)
"Why would I whip out a condom in class?"
This came from a boy two rows over. Interesting. I hadn't said condom. And now he's volunteering his innocence?
All of that went into the note. Maybe their teacher can figure out who did what and why.
Okay, give me your best guess. Why did they open a condom in class? The more elaborate, the better. Because their explanations can get a bit long-winded.
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Maybe he opened his wallet and it fell out - a remnant from the night before when he though he was going to get lucky and his girlfriend said no. And of course, once it hit the floor, he didn't want it back.
ReplyDeleteOr he purposely flung it at the other boys. Take your pick.
Congratulations on completing the Challenge!
Congrats on finishing the challenge.
ReplyDeleteThanks
DeleteYikes! That would be my reaction too. It's fun catching people when no specifics are said.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on surviving the challenge! :)
The guilty one(s) always screw themselves by blurting out something that isn't made known (hence the condom was the trash you were referring to). I hope their teacher can straight it out.
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteMaybe someone was hoping you really weren't paying them ANY attention and was hoping to get lucky during the movie?
ReplyDeleteIf only. Like no one was going to notice? Or react in a way to call attention to it? Sigh.
DeleteI guess he did it on purpose to annoy someone who would find it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, probably.
DeleteKids just like to do gross things and freak people out. Something similar happened in a couple of times when I was in school. I think it's hilarious that one of them blurted it out like that. No, that's not suspicious.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, the joys of teenagers. I'm guessing it was just a boy thing. They like to see who they can get riled up. You're braver than I am. No way would I voluntarily spend my day wrangling high schoolers. Congrats on finishing the A to Z! Elle @ Erratic Project Junkie
ReplyDeleteSome days I can actually reason with them.
DeleteI think they said: "Hey, isn't it almost Z of the A to Z Challenge? Let's give Liz something really different to write about."
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making it to Z!
Yvonne
Ah, if only. Sometimes I torture classes and mention that they're fodder for my blog. The looks on their faces...
DeleteI know two people who are (retired) teachers - perhaps I should ask them, but both taught fourth grade. Or maybe they would know - scary thought, that. Congrats on completing the challenge - both in the classroom and on the blog. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope 4th graders weren't getting ahold of condoms.
DeleteThey are boys who have sex on the brain 24/7 so they think it is cool plus funny to have that on the floor just to see your reaction or any kid's reaction. Let's hope they really don't know too much about it...I doubt that.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad to say I'm surprised to hear you'd find that in a room full of 14 year olds...I like to believe 14 is still when kids can be kids, but I know that isn't true! I was behind my peers in that area, I guess!
ReplyDeleteNo, it wasn't the freshmen. The freshmen found it, but it was left by the seniors (of that I'm certain).
DeleteI agree with Birgit. Boys have sex on the brain. They probably did think it would be a shocking thing to do to see what kind of reaction there would be from you and from the younger class.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing the A to Z. Thanks for visiting my blog.
Sunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
I don't think they were thinking that clearly. For when I said they'd sabotaged me with the freshmen, they had no idea what I was talking about. One girl had to clue them in--that the teacher's next class was full of freshmen.
DeleteI love how he "confessed" without even knowing he was confessing. I bet they just did that because you were a sub and they knew the class coming in after them and they wanted to stir things up a bit :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about them having a condom in the first place, its great they are practicing safe sex, but little young.....but what do I know :)
unless of course they just had it for show.....
Congrats on finishing A/Z!!! Very nicely done. Always enjoy your stories from the trenches of subbing :)
betty
Thanks.
DeleteI, too, am ambivalent about the existence of the condom on their persons.
Without reading any of the above comments... One guy was telling his friends that he was positive he'd get lucky (or however the deed is referred to these days) after school but he didn't have a condom. He would have brought one from home but just found out that the girl had the house to herself. One of his friends was like - hey I always have one on me and since I won't need it this afternoon. He pulled it out and the package got torn. And there was no way the girl was going to trust an opened condom package...
ReplyDeleteI asked my retired narcotics officer hubby and he says be very glad it was unused and are they allowed to use cell phones in class? I will not go further with possible scenarios. I spend my days with early childhood and am very thankful :)
ReplyDeleteThey are not "allowed" to use cell phones in class, but many do anyway. Oh, the battles over cell phones...
DeleteYes they did! I'm just happy they had one ;)
ReplyDeleteYou can find me here:
ClarabelleRant
I'm of two minds on this...
DeleteTeenage boys... what can you say! I have really enjoyed your A to Z challenge and hearing all your stories about being a sub.
ReplyDeleteYes, teenage boys can be the bane of your existence or they can really be innocent. Jinkies, I love a good mystery, but I wish it involved space alien monkey monsters instead;-) Congrats on finishing the challenge!
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I wish I learned what actually happened. Although, the school year isn't over yet. I may run into some of those students again, and they might tell me.
DeleteMiss, I found it outside and put it in my pocket and it fell out of my pocket and someone must have slipped on it and it opened by accident.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's what their excuses sound like. Exactly.
DeleteWhat goes on in the minds of teenage boys remains a mystery to me, but maybe they were just messing around. I'm imagining lewd gestures and perhaps theory crafting on what could be done with it. I'm liking Alex's suggestion of flinging it, and Birgit also brings up a good point. It certainly is a point of discussion here, maybe that's what they were going for.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing the challenge! :D
Yeah, that's likely. Considering the circumstances, it wasn't being used for it's intended purpose.
DeleteZoinks is right! Great Scooby Doo reference. And its probably best not knowing what goes on inside a teenage boys mind.
ReplyDeleteStephen Tremp
A to Z Co-host
Z is for Zombie
You're probably right.
DeleteKids can be pretty weird. :) Hey, on the bright side, we've made it to the end of the challenge! Congrats.
ReplyDeleteThis is true
Deletezoinks, what a refreshing word.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for making it to the end of the challenge. :-)
ReplyDeleteSome of the boys at school used to play a party game where you had to blow up a condom by stretching it over your head as far as your nose, then breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose to blow it up. I have no idea why, boys are weird.
Perhaps your students had it out to play some bizarre game.
Now I would have noticed if one of them had put that over his head. I hope. But you could be right.
DeleteKids are gross. I'm agreeing with those who say they probably left it for a joke and to see what the reaction would be. Congrats on finishing the Challenge - your posts were entertaining!
ReplyDeleteYeesh! that is not what you want to find on entering a class!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good bit of sleuthing there to get that boy to accidentally admit his guilt ;-) It probably was just for a joke, as others have said, it's the kind of thing I imagine a group of boys that age would find hilarious.
Congrats on making it to the end of the A to Z challenge!! I'm glad I've come across your blog, something tells me there are a lot of fun posts for me to catch up on ;-)
I think that's why the freshman freaked.
Delete