Past week in school

This past week I have dealt with a few interesting situations.

1. A 7th grade female student looked pretty bad with misty eyes and such, so I asked her what was wrong. She said her dad had hit her mom and her mom was coming to the school to talk with the counselor to sort it out.
2. A 7th grade male student was telling me about a great new video game, something about the devil smiling. He told me that it was rated "M" for various reasons. I asked him what "M" meant and he said "Mature" players. Why? Due to bad language, violence like smashing heads, blood squirting, etc. He then said to me, "You must be asking yourself 'Why do your parents let you play that?'"
• Yes, I did ask myself that. But more important to me was that this kid had not lost his conscience. He was still aware that what he was doing was somehow not good.
  
3. The principal told me about a junior high girl from the school who, while at a slumber party, went to the bathroom, stripped out of her clothes, took a picture of her naked self with a cell phone camera, and then sent it to a host of boys from the school.
• Any wonder why I homeschool my children? My kids are good, yes I'll say that. But given the wrong influences they will be bad. They have to first learn what is right, and how to deal with wrong. They will be in the world soon making their own decisions, and they will be ready.
  

This all happened this past week! At a junior high school. Not to mention some of the smart aleck kids I have in one of my classes. A true pain in the neck. Teaching ain't what it used to be.

Not that it's all bad. I have lots of kids who are decent, disciplined kids who really put forth the effort to do well. But how long will it be before these good kids are influenced for the worse by the bad kids?

Last night I read a Louis L'Amour short story. I like to read one every night. The thing that caught my attention was when the author was describing a man who was caught flat-footed in a lie. The author described him as looking "like a school kid who had been caught cheating." Ha, ha, ha. When I think of the kids I have caught cheating. They don't look ashamed, scared, abandoned. They look at me like they haven't done anything wrong, and why am I making such a deal out of it. They totally turn the tables and make the teacher out to be the victimizer! Oh, teaching today is truly a wonder.