Pam says they look like the Partridge family bus, but I had to look that up for reference. Now I see it, but my colors are brighter, happier, and more fun. 12 pairs of funk in a sock bag of happiness. That's what I got from my little sister this year for my birthday. I like pulling my sweats up (is anyone wearing pants any more?) and feeling like an Oompa Loompa.
Yesterday presented an interesting challenge, as we hosted the Martin Luther King Youth Leadership conference online, so 70 elected youth could participate in a workshop on tapping passion projects for writing achievements. It appears, however, some youth shared the link with friends, and we had ZOOM bombings (which I've heard about, but never experienced). In the blips of time's radar, I have flashbacks of middle school kids acting like idiots from my early adolescent days, too. The goal was to wreak havoc without any understanding of consequences - just to be imps who acted as fools. Gillette Road and North Syracuse Junior High School epitomized the impish, ridiculous behaviors of our adolescent, freakazoid behaviors. So goes the age.
In the beginning of the program, however, we had kids come onto the screen playing loud, inappropriate music, then a few who would just stopped in to scream. Such drive-by idiotics, of course, were hard to monitor as most kids called in from home and if the link was passed to friends....well.
As I hosted, I had to play whack-a-mole and remove kids like this as soon as they created disturbance. This was a monitoring of 4 screens, and the actions needed to be fast. I stopped, of course, and did a talk about the maturity and respect of a youth leadership academy, and afterwards, the majority of kids put in the chat, "Thank you. We're so sick of these kids who do this. It's not funny." I assured them it happens everywhere, is part of the age, and something scholars study for a living. The trouble, however, is it is behavior that goes nowhere. As achievers climb and make their way in the world, the idiots remain idiots. There's no space where they don't exist.
20 minutes into the program, all the chaos was squashed and the fools departed. The next hour and 40-minutes went smoothly, with joy, hard work, and results (which is what was expected).
Bless the souls of middle school teachers everywhere. It is a never-ending battle to invest in good kids as imbecilic kids go after immediate gratification and pseudo-humor to disrupt purpose and order. Been there. Done that. Wish there was a solution (may be why I like Wonka's world so much...send them to the incinerator...the brats).
In the end, MLK's legacy won the day, but still it was disturbing. When Marckus - I LOVE C#CK enters the room, you wonder about markers, meaning, language, purpose, and intent. When there's physical presence, there's opportunity to pull the kid aside and work through their motivations. That is much more difficult from home, especially when they can hide with no camera on and a changed name. It was calculated by the crews, too, which is intriguing, as they put their minds together to achieve a common goal (which really was the intent of the program - I just wish their goal was productive towards good).
I hope the parents are watching, listening, and playing a role in the lives of their kids, too. That helps.
To live is to learn, though, and yesterday I learned...actually, recalled...the incredible strength and patience required you work with the middle-grade age.
Phew.
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