I also had the opportunity to watch Bang, Bang You're Dead the other morning with my Block class. It was a very powerful film. It really got me thinking about school violence and how much goes on that teachers and adminstrators are not aware of. I could not believe how oblivious the principal was to the whole situation. Until she was exposed to what was going on, I don't think she had a clue. This is a scary thing for teachers to have to deal with. We have a responsibility to protect those we are teaching. To think that people can carry around that much anger and agression is terrifying. No wonder some kids explode!! They have so much rage against something that constantly gets held in, until they can't take it anymore. I also thought a lot about being able to tell when something is not right with a student in my classroom. I want to work hard to be able to recognize patterns with my students and be able to help in some way hopefully when there is a problem. I want to be aware of what is going on with those I teach.
I hate that there is a "pecking order." It is frustrating. It happens, and I don't really know what can be done about it. It seems like some group is always on the top and others are underneath, with one always being on the bottom as well. America is supposed to be a meritocracy, but sometimes I can't help but notice how similar we are to the caste system in places like India. Yeah, there is a little room to move up and down within classes, but not much. And it does not happen very often. We will always do this as long as there are labels and stereotypes. It seems to have been around for such a long time. It would take massive amounts of effort by many to change all this. So no wonder it is hard for kids to figure in school. They are labeled and then it is so hard to move out of that once you are associated with "those kind of people." If everyone was equal, there wouldn't be such hostility between groups and violence, I think, would be a much smaller issue.
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