Chapter 10

One of my students at the beginning of this year asked me if what her older sister had told her about me was true. She went on to explain that her older sister that I was always managing to break up the boyfriend girlfriend relationships that I heard about. She said that her sister told that it was best to avoid letting me know who was dating. The best part is that she is right. To me junior high is too young to be dating. To me dating starts with holding hands, then you get bored with that, and then you kiss until that is boring, and when that starts to get boring sex happens.
One of my first days at Auxvasse a fellow female teacher said to me, “Have you watched that girl, she is in heat.” Sure enough by the end of the year she had developed a type of reputation that no one should have. It seems that she truly was experiencing raging hormones that she just couldn’t control.
The class that this girl is in are now freshmen and some of the male students have come back to tell me about their sexual exploits or conquests. It disturbs me to know how casual the students treat sex. What I feel is worse is the types of things that I hear about they are doing as they have sex. One young couple was reported to have recorded their session on a videotape to share with their friends. It seems that sex for high school students is like a right of passage for them into high school. It is no wonder that the statistic that I heard about Detroit is true. I heard on the radio that 60% of the children born in Detroit do not know who their fathers are.
One of my daily goals is to teach my male students to have the upmost respect for the female part of our class. I tell them daily that chivalry is not dead. Genteelness, chivalry, and good manners are things that can and should be taught. I think that teaching such manners teaches students to have respect for themselves as well as those around them.