We had a little dust-up in second period today. The kids used to call this "shootin'," but I'm sure the term has changed since the 7th grader explained that it meant hurling insults back and forth. Travis started, and Kevin responded in kind. They talked about each other's hair, clothing, and other stuff I didn't catch. I focused on getting them to stop.
It ended. I insisted. Travis told Kevin that he would "get him" at snack. This was 10 minutes away. I didn't want to encourage fighting outside, but I was happy that the whole thing was over.
When I passed the two boys outside (on my way to the restroom), I found that they had drawn a crowd. Their "fight" remained verbal. Whew.
Third period started. The students had all witnessed the dust-up in second period and the resulting show outside during snack. They discussed.
Derek explained to the class that Travis was an idiot. Travis thought that when people laughed at him, they were laughing at his jokes. Derek said that what people were really laughing at was Travis, but Travis hadn't figured that out.
Derek then told me that when the video got posted to YouTube I would see what he meant. (I didn't see any cameras, but Derek said it was recorded.)
I'm not sure if I'm comforted by this or not (the the-other-students-think-Travis-is-an-idiot part, not the incident-got-recorded part). At least I'm not the only one who thinks that Travis is way over the top. I hope that Travis will soon figure out that he's not as cool or as funny as he thinks.
Friday, April 29, 2011
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Yikes! I hate that this generation has their embarrassments of youth publicized and immortalized on youtube. Fights and other things like this used to be bad enough when only the people at your school witnessed them. Now, it's just depressing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm curious: 7th graders get snack time?
I am in elementary school and the kids are always picking on each other. It is a constant battle even with the young ones. It did not used to be so bad. I think the tension with the economy and the world situation in general is causing a lot of unrest in the kids as well as the adults.
ReplyDeleteKids need to be taught to love one another instead of treating each other this way. Ay carajo...what a mess. Maybe Daniel Tosh will do a web redemption if it makes it to YouTube.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think that's why so many districts are focusing on "character education" a lot these days.
ReplyDelete