For our veterans

As I use my Veterans' day to sit and grade essays, I often check my Facebook.  I find essay grading so dull and tedious, that on days like today, I spend a lot of time daydreaming, cleaning my kitchen, and keeping up on my social media.  As it's Veterans' day, everyone publicly & graciously thanks our military personnel for their tremendous sacrifice.  May we never forget.  Here's an old picture of my dad in his uniform.  And on and on.  And mostly I imagine people are expressing genuine sentiment.

But however genuine the sentiment, it seems utterly a waste of time.  Sure, we all read public thanks and feel better because of our gratitude.  But what good is it?

NPR ran a story Friday stating that, "The Veterans Administration estimates 22 veterans kill themselves each day."   That's 660 lives each month, and a whopping 8,030 veteran suicides per year.  The article points to a few reasons for this horrifying suicide rate: PTSD, a military culture which "sees help-seeking as a weakness instead of something that's a strength," & lousy care by the Veterans Administration.


There are some things I understand.  Suicide is often unpredictable; often it's an impulse rather than a well-considered action.  Additionally, as the article points out, PTSD is challenging to treat, and even with treatment, suicides still happen.  But still, 22 suicides per day?  Seems to me like the VA could do a better job.  Seems to me like what is often touted as the greatest military in the world could do a better job of caring for the lives which make it great.


I'm taking a moment to write today because feeling gratitude for our veterans isn't enough.  A Facebook thanks is a paltry substitute for any meaningful action. We live in a democracy which only functions if we get involved and actually do something.  For those of us who are thoughtful, relatively well-informed, concerned citizens, it's not enough to continue to read & be well-informed and then vote accordingly.  It's time to put our gratitude to work & start advocating for our veterans.  Write to our senators and members of congress.  I did - I've no idea if it'll make any difference, but it seems like a better idea than simply saying thank you on social media.  Take some legitimate action.  Show your appreciation by advocating for our veterans.  Walk your talk, people.

Annnd, the parents.

I may have dropped an "F-bomb' within hearing distance of a student today.  That would be somewhat distressing on a normal day, but not today.

Context matters.  See, I got an e-mail from a parent which was offensive.  The message was simply a request for me to make my literature class more exciting (in the same way that mom does at home) so that the student could find it within himself to do his work.  See, this boy is just so smart, and so he gets bored a lot.  Clearly, according to this parent, this student's failing grade is a direct result of a dull, lifeless curricula & a terrible teacher.  

My initial response was inappropriate and unprofessional, though probably the clearest expression of my thoughts.  Then the next response was still inappropriate, then the next, then the next.  It took me a while to respond.  See, I really do have a thick skin, but there are some things that piss me off - like parents who not only accept the ridiculous "this class is boring" excuse for failure, but also then reinforce the excuse by blaming the teacher.  As far as I'm concerned, this is shitty parenting.  

One colleague - the one I was talking with when I cursed a little too loud - suggested I simply ask the parent for suggestions on how to make my class more exciting, as clearly the parent is an expert.  I considered this mocking tone, but then I pictured myself across the table from both the parent and my administrator & decided I didn't want to try and explain that one.  Another teacher suggested I reply with two words: home schooling.  I'll go ahead and admit that those weren't the first two words that came to mind after I read that e-mail.  

I decided to try a line drive.  I went ahead and pointed out that the failing grade is due to a lack of work.  I acknowledged the student's boredom - I imagine school would be pretty boring if you never did any of the work.  And I left the parent with suggestions for improvement:  1) your son should do the work, and 2) he really needs to do some work.  I imagined reading the message aloud with my administrator and the parent, and decided it was a reasonable response.  

My intention in relaying this gem of an anecdote is not only to bitch about my day, as that is part of it, but also to illustrate a pervasive problem.  There are some students who are so used to the blinky-flashy things they see when they sit in front of a screen, that they can't concentrate on anything that's not blinking, flashing, or exploding.  If it takes longer than 5 or 6 seconds to understand, it's either too hard or boring.  I teach a remedial reading class.  My only objective with the class is to teach students how to pass the state reading test.  It takes me a solid 5 minutes at the start of each class just to get their attention.  They are soooooo distracted.  Talking, texting, standing up, adjusting their pants, sharpening their pencils, staring at the desks.  

I'm not exaggerating about the 5 or 6 second part, either.  I pulled one student aside the other day because I'm convinced she keeps failing the reading test because she's so distracted all of the time that she constantly does her work improperly.  Smart kid, but she won't even listen to the end of a sentence - it really only takes 3 or 4 words for her to lose interest.  Some of that is probably self-absorption, but the rest I attribute to never being forced to focus on a single task for an extended (I'm talking 15 minutes or so) period of time.  

So when kids use the term "boring," I interpret that as distracted.  This distraction is an overwhelming & detrimental problem for everyone, but especially teens who are hormonal and half-crazed anyway.  If only parents would shut the damned screens off & ask their kids to read.