Different World

I'll admit that I grew up in a sheltered, upper-middle class suburb. I remember in 5th grade seeing the word "Fuck" spray painted on a wall at my school and being horrified and so disturbed. I remember in 9th grade being shocked and dismayed when I found out that some of my classmates smoked. By the end of my freshman year in high school, I couldn't even face some of my friends who drank. As a junior in high school, I was horrified to hear that my best friend had given her boyfriend a blow job. This was my naive little world as a child; couple that with never having stepped foot in a public high school until my student teaching and you may begin to understand why it breaks my heart to see what my students go through.

Today we were on lock down. Not for the normal reasons: someone wrote a vague threat on the wall of the bathroom, or someone on a prison work party escaped from their cre (yes, it happens all the time). Not even for the really frightening situation where the floor plan of our school was found on an Al-Queida computer. At my school, we are in the middle of a gang war, and I am scared to death.

Here's the situation: Yesterday we had 5, yes 5, fights. 7:30, 9:00, 10:30, 2:30, and 2:45 - all gang related. Then there was a HUGE gang fight last night around 9:00 where one of our kids was stabbed by another one of our kids. This is the second gang-related stabbing of kids in the last month, by the way.

We were not to let kids into the hallways during class, be very aware of kids dress, and be in the hallway during passing time. We have 15 kids up for expulsion, 3 more were arrested today.

I'm just in awe. This was not anything I ever had to face and then we wonder how they are so screwed up.