All middle schoolers aren’t 'hostile and abusive’
The following is a Counterpoint:
By Lynn Long
As the parent of a middle schooler, I take great offense with Doug Clark’s June 18 column. My son Andrew is a rising seventh-grader at Kernodle Middle School. He is a bright, kind, giving boy growing into a young man. He is active in our church, sports at the Spears YMCA and Boy Scout Troop 109.
He is not “hostile and abusive,” as Clark called all middle schoolers in his column. He and his classmates are not “in an adversarial relationship against a lone teacher.”
The middle school children I know are wonderful kids. They want to learn. They want to please teachers, coaches, scout leaders and parents. They are doing this in a world that does not always respect them.
Each day they are bombarded with the good and bad of this world. For Clark to dump all middle schoolers into a lump of worthless, stupid, uncaring, disrespectful and violent human beings is unfair.
Each of us should be doing all we can do to uplift all children to help them become the leaders of tomorrow. I do not know the teacher Clark referred to, nor do I know the specifics of her case. I am sorry that her job “drove her crazy.” My son was taught by six of the most educated and dedicated teachers. Yes, they were ready for the year to end, as we all are ready for things to end. This does not mean that they were “desperately clinging to sanity until summer vacation finally” arrived.
Many teachers will spend this summer learning new material to become better teachers. Like children, they will spend time relaxing and preparing for a new school year and new adventures.
No, my son is not perfect and wonderful all the time. He drives me, his father, his teachers and his coaches crazy sometimes. He is silly and irresponsible sometimes. This is what a middle schooler is.
Mr. Clark, I invite you to meet the middle schoolers I know. You will be impressed by the children you meet.
The writer lives in Greensboro.
Comments (2)
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This column really bugged me as well. While I believe it takes a certain talent to teach this very dynamic age group, it isn't because the kids are horrible, it's because they are middle schoolers. Rather than admit that she didn't have what it takes to be a middle school teacher and seek employment elsewhere, this woman blames the kids instead for her mental instability and seeks compensation for it. I hope she's not teaching at this school anymore. I would shudder to have a psycho like this teaching my child.
I'm a nurse. I used to work in cardiology, but it stressed me out so badly that I moved to a different area more suited to my temperment. I certainly would never have considered seeking compensation because I wasn't fit to do the job.
Posted on July 2, 2008 7:50 AM
Lynn,
Be thankful that your child attends Kernodle. That happens to be the very best middle school in all of Guilford County.
Unless you've been to some of the other middle schools in this county, you may not have a clear picture of what the rest of our children have to endure everyday.
There are plenty of "hostile and abusive" middle schoolers in our schools and in some cases, they are the majority of students.
Posted on July 2, 2008 10:14 AM