Bubble Gum and Vanity
Posted on July 1, 2008
Filed under Summer School Sagas
I’ve never claimed to attach myself to anything to girlie, but I am reminded two days in a row now of what it is like for young teenage girls. Keep in mind that my sources for this imprisonment period that I refer to as Summer School are limited in math-skills and seemingly brain capacity.
I have acquired a cling-on who will cling-on to another lucky female, no doubt, come fall when she stretches into 7th grade. B, let’s call her, is hopefully not named after the malt liquor that her parents enjoyed around time of conception. Rather, B’s name reminds me of the very type of girl she is. Full of herself, defined by her cute-in-a-baby-fat-way clothes and reeking of bubble gum each day. She dons on her hand today and “I love” claim of some poor boy who maybe doesn’t even know that she took the time to pen on her hand today.
Who really knows what 12 year olds do these days during the summer? I really feel that I once was in tune with the likings of these middle school creatures. However, I find myself recalling on my young teen years spent begging for a ride to town and a reason to NOT unload hay. I look back on my summers watching The Young and the Restless as a great time, thankful I knew my math facts well enough to have swimming lessons be the only reason I was required to attend summer school.
Anyways, my subject’s obnoxious chewing (saliva filled rhythm inserted in your brain now, not only mine) has driven me to pretending that she doesn’t exist. Normally, this is quite easy. But since she got up the courage to come and sit inches behind my laptop screen I have had to resort to other means of tuning out the Trident chomping. What concerns me the most about this B, is that her math facts are so poor that when asked, she doesn’t know how to mentally solve 7 minus 6. Honestly, she had to use a calculator to divide 200 by 2. What has changed SO much in our student population/approach to teaching that has left this girl in the dark? I mean her lack-luster math skills are going to be necessary some day when the cash register that she is tending powers down and someone is demanding change for a twenty. Who or what has she leaned on SO much that the crutch is no longer able to withstand the numbness that exists between her ears?
Now, I know I sound judgmental and brutal, but honestly, I thought kids just hated to write in Language class I normally teach. When in fact, students like B are lacking all around. What she isn’t lacking is in the aforementioned bubble gum and super-cute clothes. In addition, she has the skills to paint her nails tacky pink and mousse her streaky highlighted hair every day.
I am by no means a religious person, but I pray for girls like B to overcome vain customs and jump-start parts of her brain that have yet to be moved. I hope she can shake out the cob-webs and acquire skills vital to things like gassing up the minivan, grocery shopping and maybe, just maybe, filling out a job application.
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