I wish I were a teacher in a time when children were allowed to be children. I wish I were a teacher in a time when children were expected to be children. I wish I were a teacher in a time when the adults were the adults.
The school where I teach is a private boarding school and, as such, is constantly concerned about enrollment. Teachers and administrators fret over retention and recruitment and seem to be consumed with fear of low numbers. Even worse, it seems that nobody knows how to say "no" to parents or alumni, so the only people who have the knowledge and experience to be making the tough decisions (the teachers and administrators on-site) are acquiescing to the slightest whim of every other constituency of the school. This is no secret. The unfortunate side effect of this, though, is that the inmates run the asylum. Last year, there was a lot of student unrest because it seemed that the students had no voice in the goings-on on campus. This year, largely due to the efforts of two teachers who took it upon themselves to give the students a greater voice, the tables have been turned. I take my marching orders from a person who takes his marching orders from a person who takes her marching orders from a pair of students.
It's like a plotline from Heller.
