Beginnings and endings

Today I met my new mentor class, 24 tiny eleven and twelve year olds, who all looked at me with big bright eyes still teeming with youthful enthusiasm. Last week I said goodbye to my old mentor class, 27, tall, fifteen and sixteen year olds who have no enthusiasm or spark left. The contrast between the two groups was stunning although terrifying might be a better word. Because three years ago those 27 obnoxious browbeaten teenagers were tiny adorable kids filled with life and hope. Where did that drive go? When did that spark die? Is that simply what happens when kids reach puberty? Or is the result of a broken educational system, which is a symptom of a diseased society on the brink of disaster?

I know, I know, that all sounds like the start of a dystopian young adult novel, in other words, highly dramatic. But, to be fair, the situation deserves a little consideration. Because how do we account for that change in behaviour? And more importantly, is there anything we can do to turn the tide? Personally, I happen to believe that society has screwed teenagers over since the dawn of time. Which is absurd, because at a certain point we all were teenagers, and you would think at some stage an adult would have said ‘guys.. this is crap, we need to find another way’. Instead, we all go ‘yes this is crap, but we went through it so they should too’. And that’s just a horrible way of thinking. Why, if we as adults suffered so much during our adolescent years, have we still not changed the system? The phrase ‘well this wasn’t different during my time, in fact, it was even worse!’ is not a great phrase. It’s a terrible one, since it implies we know damn well what is wrong, we just refuse to fix it. And sure, our education system is thought up by politicians, and they seem very far removed from us, you know, the actual parts of the actual education system. But surely, we have voted for these politicians? And if we hate them, we could theoretically get rid of them. And if they don’t listen, we again theoretically, could revolt. Why can’t we be like the farmers right now? Block the roads and schools, bar students from entering until we can provide them with an actual educational institution that caters to their needs, instead of the government’s and society’s desires? Why don’t we, collectively, say enough is enough? Not a strike for higher wages, or a reduced workload. But a strike against the bizarre examinations, the high amounts of testing, the separation of students into artificially created ‘levels’, and the complete disregard for students’ wellbeing at the end of it all. Education has become a business and a corrupt one at that. Students are reduced to numbers wherein not just their academic achievement but even their behaviour is graded, labelled and eventually judged as sufficient or insufficient.  How can person, a young adult, be deemed insufficient? Not good enough? What does that do, with them, as people? What did it do to us? I’ll tell you what it does, it turns our students, our teenagers, our future generations, into depressed, anxious, obnoxious and frankly demotivated people. It kills their soul. And eventually teaches them, that that is simply part of growing up.

I wish I could say that I believe we will be changing the system in the next few years. But I am a pessimist by heart and I am not in the habit of deluding myself. So, I go to work each day, determined to be better than the system I am a part of. Determined to nurture, and value and cherish. To work within the confines of the system and do right by the kids I teach. Yet, today, as I watched my newest batch of bouncing kids, the only thing I thought was: 

"How long will it take for us to crush their spirits too?"