#ocrow rants

[otome-crow]

This this 1000x this!!

I’m 43, but I’m a high school teacher, and I’ve taught 9th grade (14-15 year olds) for almost 20 years. Listening to them talk about how they’re treated by parents and bosses and sometimes my fellow teachers appalls me. To me, these are children, some of them become MY children (I’m very out as queer and ND and I run part of the theatre program, so the LGBTQ/ND kids tend to find me) because they struggle with their own parents…but they’re way more than just children.

My dudes. They’re young adults. There’s a reason we have that term. Are they adults? No. But they’re not JUST ‘young’ either. They’re in that middle ground where they’re building who they’re going to be as a full adult, hopefully within a space safe enough to make mistakes and learn from them without wrecking their lives. Sure, they need guidance and structure, but they don’t need to be monitored the same way an 8 year old does. In fact, they NEED space to take risks and FAIL. Failure is so important at any age, but even more so now. They need to learn their true limits, and how far they can go before they fall off the cliff - because the cliff, at this age, is about the size of a step or two, instead of a real cliff. Let. Them. Experiment.

Also, maybe just listen to them? Like I said, I teach 9th grade. But there are kids who come and see me a few times a week after they leave my class. Why? Because I’ll listen about their video game news or mangas or whatever. I may not read their mangas, but if they explain enough about it (and find me a teen that doesn’t like infodumping to someone about their favorite thing), I can have an intelligent conversation about character arcs or whatever. Or at least ask intelligent questions.

And if you won’t treat a teen as a person because they’re ACTUALLY PEOPLE, look at it as development: every time they explain the newest plot twist of their manga to me, they’re practicing communication and critical thinking skills. In fact, whenever they READ a manga, they’re practicing understanding pictures and words, which sounds like a kindergarten concept until you have to read charts or a fact sheet on a car you’re thinking about buying. Also, just….reading is good? Any reading? Video games are good? Hello? Hand-eye coordination, problem solving, puzzle skills, critical thinking, and perseverance?

There’s a reason parents are encouraged to involve their kid in age-appropriate ways in home finances. Helping them budget their allowance/work income helps them budget their salary when they’re an adult. The fact that we have entire YouTube channels dedicated to teaching us stuff our parents never did shows that we’re not involving kids and teens in our everyday lives anymore. It’s really fucking sad.

Sometimes people ask me the best part about teaching teens (it’s a rare question, most people want horror stories). I always say I’ll never become one of those ‘kids these days’ people because kids don’t change. The only difference between teens 20 years ago and teens now is the cell phones, and that’s another rant. Now, it might just be the kids who find their way to me, or it might be the culture of my school, but I see way, way more kids completely accepting of their LGBTQ/ND peers than bullying them. I have kids come up to me frequently asking how they can help someone who’s struggling, or if we can start a food drive, or their friend’s parents are having problems paying their bills, is there some way I can help? They’re so concerned about others, about helping and protecting people weaker than them, and they accept help from others in ways I don’t see in adults. There’s an openness that the world shuts down in them.

you cant ever let yourself forget what it felt like to be 15. how adults treated you. being treated without a shred of respect because people think youre too young to have thoughts and feelings of your own. the lack of autonomy. you cant ever forget that because if you do you might become the kind of adult who treats kids like theyre not people