I was sitting in my room during lunch and one of my smaller, mousey, quieter boys came in and plopped down in front my desk. The kid would fit into the "nerd" category and I know that because I live in that category. I had heard rumors that he was going to be a father. The mother is a very similar female version of himself. Shortly thereafter, I heard that she cheated and the kid wasn't his. Isn't it funny how kids force gossip on teachers that we have no interest in hearing? Anyway, then this kid just unloads on me and starts asking for guidance.
He starts saying all this stuff about how he wanted a family and how he was prepared to provide for the kid. Then he started to get upset and that he'd be crushed if the kid wasn't his. Two more male students, all around 15 years old, came in and started talking about how they also had kids and the struggles of fatherhood. Finally I had to just say STOP. "What in the world are you crazy kids talking about!?" Did I just walk into some old, dilapidated bar and sidle up next to some of the regulars?
These kids were spouting all kinds of nonsense that they had no business talking about. I'm not saying they were clueless, I'm saying they needed to not be parents at 15. None of these kids even knew what a fallopian tube was. (We were watching bizarre foods and Andrew Zimmern ate a pig fallopian tube.) Our educational system and our community support are doing something wrong if we have kids walking around talking like this. Kids are living very adult lives.
We always want to blame someone in situations like this, but I think the most appropriate thing for me to say is this: Be there for your kids even when it's difficult. Nobody else may be.
He starts saying all this stuff about how he wanted a family and how he was prepared to provide for the kid. Then he started to get upset and that he'd be crushed if the kid wasn't his. Two more male students, all around 15 years old, came in and started talking about how they also had kids and the struggles of fatherhood. Finally I had to just say STOP. "What in the world are you crazy kids talking about!?" Did I just walk into some old, dilapidated bar and sidle up next to some of the regulars?
These kids were spouting all kinds of nonsense that they had no business talking about. I'm not saying they were clueless, I'm saying they needed to not be parents at 15. None of these kids even knew what a fallopian tube was. (We were watching bizarre foods and Andrew Zimmern ate a pig fallopian tube.) Our educational system and our community support are doing something wrong if we have kids walking around talking like this. Kids are living very adult lives.
We always want to blame someone in situations like this, but I think the most appropriate thing for me to say is this: Be there for your kids even when it's difficult. Nobody else may be.
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