Complaint: So Depressing

Boy, I bet that title really makes you want to read this, right?

I just spent the day subbing for one of the third grade classes at my kids' over-priced but generally very lovely school.

And it sucked.

I mean, it really, really sucked.

I taught high school in Los Angeles County and the kids in this posh and pampered atmosphere today were way meaner, ruder, and more disrespectful to each other and to me than anyone I've encountered in all my years of teaching.

I miss public school.

It makes me really want to just take my kids out of the school. But I know I'm over-reacting. Still, a school that purports to be about values like honesty and integrity and respect for others feels kind of like a sick joke after witnessin the behavior I saw today.

And bear in mind that I've been called a bitch and have had a kid transferred into my class who threatened to blow up his other teacher's car. I've had kids in gangs. They're much more polite.

It's the constant stupids, shut ups, idiots, kicking, throwing things, talking back, crawling over furniture, major insubordination, bad attitude, lack of respect for others that makes my skin crawl. We're paying for this and we're putting up with this? Oh hell, no.

Now look, I know for a fact that this does not go on in my kids' classes. I've subbed there, and that shit is not tolerated. The school is still overall an excellent place.

But it depresses and angers me to see kids treating everyone around them so poorly. What does that say for our future, and theirs? They don't care about each other and they don't care about themselves. They see nothing wrong with their behavior. And it makes me feel sick to see how mean these kids are allowed to be to each other without a second glance.

Really sick.