I think I may have mentioned a couple of dozen times how much I miss the year 6 children. Yesterday, the gentle giant of the class stopped me in the corridor and asked about two children. 'Are they in your class?' he asked. Uh oh, I thought, what have they been up to? 'Only,' he continued, 'they had a bit of a falling out at break time, and it's Friday, and I'd hate for them to be sad all weekend. Can you do something?'
I hate it when people moan about 'the youth of today'. Yes, there are the awful ones, but there are some dreadful people in every age group. Last year's Horrible Boys may well grow into Horrible Teenagers, and some may be Horrible Adults. But for each of those boys, you could easily see a reason for the way they behaved. Often it was because of attitudes passed on from parents; the 'hit them before they hit you' mentality, even if 'they' had no intention of hitting you to start with. They'll probably grow up to have little Horrible Boys of their own. Those boys were the exception, and I know that, to a point, it's because we are a small village school, but talking to staff from other schools, it seems like horrible children are still very much in the minority around here. They do seem to take over your mind, though. When I look back on that particular year group, the ones that stick in my memory will be the badly behaved ones, no matter that we had over 25 lovely children that year.
I think there are some children that your average school doesn't cater for. One of Son Number Two's friends left primary school being unable read well, or understand maths. However, he could name every type of bird and tree. He could tell you how to care for chickens and make a profit by selling eggs. His father was a gamekeeper, and that was all this boy wanted to be when he was older. When he was a year 6, I rescued and brought up an orphaned duckling at home. He could see no point in that. 'It should have died,' he told me. 'It's just you being soft. Bring it in, and I'll wring its neck if you can't.' He wasn't being nasty, he was being practical. Why have a rabbit as a pet? He couldn't understand that. 'Feed it well until it's about 18 months old,' he said, 'then knock it on the head and have it for dinner.' When he wasn't talking about Nature, he was an angry lad who threw things and screamed at people. He was lovely, he was just in the wrong place. (Incidentally, someone in the staff room recently said, 'My friend knows every single type of bird. Why on earth do you need to know that?' Why would you be okay with looking at a common bird or animal and not knowing what it is?)
Auntie Mo and I were talking about how, when we see ex-pupils, it's always the ones who used to be horrible that still speak to us. I'm often having, 'Hello, Miss!' yelled down the road by the boy who once hurled a chair at me. The one who used to regularly tell me to f**k off, is now the one who offers me a cheery 'good morning', and asks if I'm having a good day.
It annoys me when I see people eye the group my son is with, and cross the road. He may be 16, but it doesn't mean he, or his friends, are on drugs and about to kill someone.
Yes, they can be loud. They were noisy in the car the other day, when they were talking about bowling, and driving lessons. (One boy admitted to planning every journey so he wouldn't have to negotiate a roundabout.) Some people seem to be frightened of a whole generation, because of what they see on the news. But it's on the news because it's unusual. Teenagers and young people have always, it seems, had a bad press. My parents, being teenagers in the 60s, were condemned because liking The Rolling Stones would obviously turn them into criminals. Now, if you wear a hoodie, it means you take drugs and carry a knife. It can't be because you're cold or to hide because you think the whole world is looking at you.
I know there are bad ones out there, as there are of any age, but don't condemn a whole generation.
I hate it when people moan about 'the youth of today'. Yes, there are the awful ones, but there are some dreadful people in every age group. Last year's Horrible Boys may well grow into Horrible Teenagers, and some may be Horrible Adults. But for each of those boys, you could easily see a reason for the way they behaved. Often it was because of attitudes passed on from parents; the 'hit them before they hit you' mentality, even if 'they' had no intention of hitting you to start with. They'll probably grow up to have little Horrible Boys of their own. Those boys were the exception, and I know that, to a point, it's because we are a small village school, but talking to staff from other schools, it seems like horrible children are still very much in the minority around here. They do seem to take over your mind, though. When I look back on that particular year group, the ones that stick in my memory will be the badly behaved ones, no matter that we had over 25 lovely children that year.
I think there are some children that your average school doesn't cater for. One of Son Number Two's friends left primary school being unable read well, or understand maths. However, he could name every type of bird and tree. He could tell you how to care for chickens and make a profit by selling eggs. His father was a gamekeeper, and that was all this boy wanted to be when he was older. When he was a year 6, I rescued and brought up an orphaned duckling at home. He could see no point in that. 'It should have died,' he told me. 'It's just you being soft. Bring it in, and I'll wring its neck if you can't.' He wasn't being nasty, he was being practical. Why have a rabbit as a pet? He couldn't understand that. 'Feed it well until it's about 18 months old,' he said, 'then knock it on the head and have it for dinner.' When he wasn't talking about Nature, he was an angry lad who threw things and screamed at people. He was lovely, he was just in the wrong place. (Incidentally, someone in the staff room recently said, 'My friend knows every single type of bird. Why on earth do you need to know that?' Why would you be okay with looking at a common bird or animal and not knowing what it is?)
Auntie Mo and I were talking about how, when we see ex-pupils, it's always the ones who used to be horrible that still speak to us. I'm often having, 'Hello, Miss!' yelled down the road by the boy who once hurled a chair at me. The one who used to regularly tell me to f**k off, is now the one who offers me a cheery 'good morning', and asks if I'm having a good day.
It annoys me when I see people eye the group my son is with, and cross the road. He may be 16, but it doesn't mean he, or his friends, are on drugs and about to kill someone.
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I know there are bad ones out there, as there are of any age, but don't condemn a whole generation.
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