I'm Not That Innocent

The phrase doesn't just apply to Ms. Spears anymore. That's right. My little angels have finally begun to show their true colors, and they bare an eerie resemblance.

Today I was scheduled to teach a lesson in both my seventh and eighth grade classes. I was eager and excited to take center stage again after playing the role of understudy for several weeks. I prepared a game that met each of the NJCCCS in preparation for the NJASK. Because my students needed to work in teams to win the game, I decided to first have them point out some real life examples of where they see teamwork.

"Police Officers"

"Awesome! Yes. Police have to work together to solve crimes and keep us safe!"

"A Marriage!"

"Haha, Yes! How insightful! Good one!

"Strippers!"

"That is extremely inappropriate. Think of another example."

"Gangs!"

An eruption of giggles from the peanut gallery.

I paused. Both answers a cry for negative attention. But at least gangs made sense. Strippers?

I decided it would be best to not allow the boys to participate in the game after their outbursts. Instead, I had them write a 5 paragraph essay as to why they felt "gangs" and "strippers" are appropriate answers to give during my lesson. The following are DIRECT QUOTES from their essays.

"Gangs use teamwork to kill people. Sometimes they kill bad people which is helpful to the police."

"Why are gangs and strippers appropriate? First, Drugs are appropriate because they make you happy when you are sad. Drugs are equal to alcohol. Next, strippers aren't bad because they keep you motivated. Plus, strippers aren't people. They are crackheads. Gangs teach you how to profit, how to use a gun, how to smoke and how to fight. Cops kill about 300 people a day but gangs only kill about 299 people every two hours."

"Sorry that I interrupted your "lesson" but you asked a question and I answered it."



I love that "lesson" was in quotation marks! And if anyone out there knows how strippers motivate people, please let me know. I'm not brave enough to ask the young man who wrote it.