High School reflections

I spent the past 3 days substituting for an instructional assistant at the local public high school. I don't pretend or aspire to be an expert on teens in any sense of the word(s). But I have some observations that may surprise some people:

Prior to this exposure, virtually the only information I have received in the past 10 years about the society of high school students has come from the public media. Movies (almost universally) and TV news (generally) portray high school students as (1) rowdy, (2) disrespectful, (3) violent, (4) obscene, and (5) cocky either from over-confidence or from insecurity. Whether or not these media intend to give these impressions is not my concern here. I'm simply saying that if someone last week had asked me what I expected to encounter in the high school, the picture I would have painted would have been drawn along those lines. That simply because I had not had any other sources of information.

To use Bill O'Reilly's phrase: "I was pleasantly surprised." The majority of students I saw--whether in the class rooms or in the hallways--were respectful and courteous. Even the ones I dealt with in classrooms who seemed to have submerged "issues," treated me and their teachers with respect. I heard foul language, but only directed to each other never to an adult. At this high school, the periods are 90 minutes long and the teacher is encouraged to use the first half as instructional time and the second have given to working on class projects--"homework" either for that class or for another. During the instructional time, generally the students remained at least quiet (albeit not all), many of them attentive and respectful. When directed to work on their homework, they generally remained on-task. Naturally, there occurred some discussion that was off topic. But we easily brought them back on-task simply by walking past where they were at. Not once did I see any threats or pressure used to get the students re-focused. Of course, some students refused to keep pace or do their assignment. That is their choice. But those who opted for this did not disturb other students. In once class, the "teacher" seemed quite inattentive. One day she spent the time doing a crossword puzzle. (How she managed to stretch that puzzle into a 1 1/2 hour project I have no idea! The one she was doing normally would have taken me 20 minutes max. But I digress...) The other day she was playing on her computer, with her back turned to the class. Still, the class remained calm. Clearly half of the class was NOT on task. But what would you expect. But at the same time, about half the class continued on their work even though the "instructor" didn't seem to care.

All of this gave me a very positive impression of the young people at this school.

One more thing involves a contrast between my high school years and today. When I went through HS, there was a clear distinction between the "in crowd" and the "out crowd." I myself did not really fit into either. But at least I had my group with whom I was welcome and if I missed a day they missed me. I was never one of the popular kids; but neither was I one of the rejects. At the same time, unfortunately, when I attended HS we always had some who fell into the category of "rejects."

In this HS, perhaps there are rejects. I was not there long enough to determine that. But my limited exposure revealed little or no such behavior. In the classroom context at least, when the students were instructed to work in pairs or to work on their homework, I did not see anyone excluded. Some of the students gave visual indicators of poor self-image, low self-esteem. But if they walked up to another group who were involved in an activity or a discussion, they appeared to be well received and brought into the group process. In the class context at least, I did not see signs of exclusion or rejection. Naturally some gravitated more to one group than to another--especially along ethnic lines. But even those lines would be crossed with (seemingly) little disturbance.

Well, those were my observations. If they are prejudiced or discriminatory (a la O'Reilly), then so be it. And you can let me know. But I'm just trying to contrast the biased picture given by public media versus the "reality" of my perceptions these last few days.

ttfn