Another Thought on Teachers

 Another thing I cannot stand is being treated like children, especially without the benefits of recess or naptime! Some teachers merely don’t convey the respect to students that (some of) the students deserve. Which of course, there is always the other extreme where they put too much on our shoulders that I don’t even believe adults can handle, but I find being treated like children is worse.

What really got under my skin was the occurrence that happened last week with the bomb threat. I found it irritating they didn’t even tell us anything was going on, but played it out as though nothing was going on. Then they wouldn’t even inform us what was going, but instead told us they were dealing with some “technical difficulties” inside the building. Even though everyone in the auditorium knew through the process of texting, I find it insulting teachers didn’t trust us to act as adults in the situation (which, for some of us, we can’t). However, even with the students who might get a little out of hand, I feel as though we had the right to know something when our lives are “supposedly” at stake. Even though there’s only a 0.0001% chance this threat is indeed true, I don’t feel it’s a risk to take and don’t think students should be left without knowledge of what’s going on.

Anyhow, some teachers don’t even see students as equals, and don’t talk to us as though we, the students, are human beings. All I know is I CANNOT wait to graduate, with the exception of Mrs. Gunter. She can come with me.

Chores

This week’s topic is looking at chores – everybody’s got them (almost everybody). I do feel that chores are necessity in families whose kids aren’t involved in extracurricular activities and jobs and things of the sort. This gives children a sense of responsibility and put’s some sort of weight on their shoulders. Aside from that, children should have enough respect for their parents and show appreciation by doing these small labors which we all tend to exaggerate to being so arduous. Though, I will admit I get a upset and flustered when I am asked to do something, which brings me to the point I want to make.

If children already have enough on their plate (school, clubs, job, etc.) as it is, parents should have the respect to acknowledge this fact. Don’t get me wrong – I do find my parents have fairly balanced what they do ask of me, which isn’t very much. Despite the fact that I even realize it, I still find myself upset. Aside from those random days off where I am caught up in my studies and aren’t scheduled to work, I am constantly busy. In order to do anything that’s personal and something I enjoy doing myself, I am forced to multitask while doing homework. A prime example would be right now, because I am burning approximately 200+ more CD’s from my computer, which takes a considerable amount of time (not that I’ll find time to listen to my music anyways).

I don’t mean to sound rude, but when I’ve got 1 hour to get packed, drive home, get dressed, eat and get to work, I do get a little aggravated when I am asked to take out the trash or help unload something. And if I’m running late in the morning and fail to have time to make my bed, it shouldn’t be pointed out – I had to get to school. Whereas most children would be praised for willing to stay up late to study and strive to do well in school, I usually get harped at or griped because I’m not in bed. Sure, sure…my health is mentioned and how much sleep I get it important, but why isn’t this topic brought up on weekends when I stay out late and not doing homework (this happens on a rare occasion, mind you). Another thing which was that I need sleep to do good on the test, but I’m pretty sure I won’t recall what I haven’t read.

When I’m asked to do the chores, I think it’s safe to assume that I’m not really being asked or given an option, it’s more of a demand. Perhaps if some allowance was brought into the picture things wouldn’t be so bad – at least I’d have some motive and reason (aside from loving my parents!) for doing it. I know what they ask/demand are petty things and not very often, but the time does mount up, and it interrupts my train of thought when I’m in the middle of something. If you ask anyone who knows me even the slightest bit, they could tell you how much I struggle to get on task because I’m so distracted as it is. Chores aren’t fun for anybody – especially without pay! So that’s basically my two cents on chores.

The Casualties of Having a Job

So, as most of you know, I am employed at Beef’O’Brady’s as a host (NOT a hostess), where I get paid to lounge around at the front door and act like I care about other peoples lives – woo-hoo. When I was 16 years closer to my death, I took it upon myself to venture out into the real world – because school is, after all, the fake world – in search for a job. Luckily, I attached a picture of myself to my application, hence receiving quick results. It is pretty safe to assume Beef’s hired me to make use of my attractiveness to lure in customers.

Now that you have the background information on how I got my job, let’s begin to discuss why it’s beginning to interfere with my personal life. My original intention behind wanting a job was, as you all could probably guess, have some pocket money now that I get into whatever trouble I wanted. I was under the assumption that, since my sister had received this gracious benefit, my gas would be fully paid for by my parents. When questioned, my parents explained that since I have a job, I can take care of these various expenditures. Oh, now I understand, how could I have been so oblivious to the logic? Since I took the responsibility of finding a job, there are consequences. In case you didn’t catch it, I am trying to give a hint of sarcasm.

Sure, both my car and insurance were covered by my parents, but so were my sisters. Not to mention my car cost significantly less. If I need some materials or something for school, I sometimes get the same answer. My mom and I have planned a trip to Canada for spring, under the condition that we split the costs. I find this irksome – whatever happened to a family vacation (when the kids don’t have to pay)? It seems easier to just quit, feed of my parents’ income, and devote my time to friends and various other leisurely things. Fortunate for them, though, I enjoy where I work and get along with all of my coworkers. It’s just one of those situations where it’s not so black and white, but grey, as to whether or not I should quit. Life can be hard.

In Regard of (some of) the Teachers

A huge hard-knock which prevents itself time and time again in my life it the carelessness of some of teachers and attitudes. It is becoming apparent to me that some of the teachers clearly only depict their students as mere numbers instead of actual intellectuals. This is without mentioning the site base and some of the administrators. When situations come along and things aren’t going too hunky-dory as they may want it to, the consequences are invoked on everybody. There are some teachers in particular which really get under my skin who think (but in their mind, know) that they are always right, when in reality, they are wrong.

One primary example occurred just recently: I, along with several others who accompanied me at my table, were summoned to be questioned where our scores, which were all compiled on one sheet, was at. I, being the perfect role model student that I am, had taken the dignity to take our scores up myself. I recall being the last group to finish, because I remember double checking to make sure it was placed among with the other groups’ papers. The teacher said to go check in a stack of papers another student was going through at the moment. He made a motion to put it back in one of the trays, but I nabbed it from him to swiftly glance through the papers in search of the paper. Unfortunately it wasn’t there, so I checked the stack of papers that had just been graded by the teacher that day while we watched a movie. Sure enough, there it was, amongst the other papers alike, ungraded. I returned it to her and explained where I had found it. Then she complained that I had put it in the wrong tray and it was my fault. However, that makes no sense when I had check earlier to find and make sure it was with the other papers, and she hadn’t graded it until after this took place. Not to mention there wasn’t any papers in the tray which was supposed to be the tray for already graded papers, yet my paper managed to find itself amidst the stack and not at the bottom. It’s clear to me that she had made the mistake of overlooking it while grading, which is perfectly fine. But to get mad at me and make accusations is another.

Another example pertaining to the administration not seeing each person as an individual was the issue about not receiving exam exemptions if dues weren’t paid. I had totally forgotten that I had a library fine due, which is why the librarians hand out fine slips if it’s been a long fine, because students sometimes need reminding. This year I never received a slip, and she claimed to have emailed me, but my inbox was full (which I understand it was my fault, I just NEVER use it). However, even if that was my fault for not cleaning out my inbox, every teacher that has ever tried to contact me has said that the message bounces back out of all the students to inform them my inbox was full and I didn’t receive it, but she didn’t come to find me. My parents also have always usually received a phone call informing them about fines, but not this year. Sure, they made announcements over the intercom, but I had FORGOTTEN about it, which is why they’re supposed to hand out these fines and do these different ways to contact the student. This is without mentioning that during the second semester, students with any fines can return the book now without being charged. WHAT?!? So a big deal over nothing? So after contacting the principal, his reasoning behind not letting me get the exemption was because if I got it, everyone would have to get it. This comes to show that they don’t look at issues as individual cases where a student may actually have a reason, but as a student body.