Two weeks to vacation. Counterpart in a pissy mood today – “oh how hard we work, how difficult our job… Some days it is not so bad, in fact some days we approach friendliness. Other days, and more often, it is the bitterness. So much bitterness; that of lost empire and glory, that of disrespect, that of constantly just getting by. In some ways I sympathize. After all, our teachers are some of our most valuable assets; disrespect them and disrespect the future. But other times the sympathy doesn’t come. Instead one views their cowing toward authority and thinks, “well, I guess this is what you get when you refuse to speak up.” And though some may say that this is just a hangover from prior days, I would argue that it is more. Obsequiousness now breads obsequiousness tomorrow; though the students know better, they have no idea how to make it so. It is a tragic cycle in which only the most corrupt and cynical seem to survive, woe be the idealist of any stripe. But then again, this is not my land, these are not my people. But one leaves with the troubling thought that the process of corruption is no longer mandated from upon high, rather chosen consciously as a means of survival. Which is more terrifying?
The Hebrews had to wander for forty years in the desert so those with slave mentalities could die out and be replaced with a new generation willing to take on freedom, with all its risks. It’s your students, not the old timers, who will shape the future of Romania. I have no doubt you are planting all the right seeds of fractious individualism, of freedom in all its unruly glory!
I might get blasted for this one, but when has that EVER stopped me before?!
We have all picked up cues and beliefs from our parents. Our parents(or primary caregivers) have molded us in many ways. Whether they were there and nurtering or absent and neglectful their influences have shaped us in many ways.
Now i know its fun to think that we can mold the youth and change their thinking, but we have to rememeber that these kids have had parental influence for much longer then they have had us. It takes time to change opinion. Let me give you an example. We have one kid at the place I do intrernship sho has a violent past. This mornign before i got ther ehe beat the shit out of another kid simply becuase that other kid called him a name. For this kid he has been reinforced by his family and by where he grew up that settling your differences with your fists is right way to go. Furthermore he has leanred that he must stand up and beat the shit out of anyone that calls him a name. He must “represent”.
The problem is we have to change his way of thinking or he will be a lifelong criminal. He picked up this attitude at home and has been utiling it ever since. Will we compleltey reach him? I hope so, but I am not sure we will. He is already 17 and is one serious offense(and a few months from his 18th birthday) form adult prison. Maybe we reach him, but i suspect a lot of his attitude will remain.
Now this doesnt mean we should give up. No, not at all. We must reach out to the children and try to change them a bit. That way when they have children they will pass on some of what we say, so that someday we will have the future we are looking for. Its not this kid’s genration, but one down the line…