At the Bottom of the Steps

At the Bottom of the Steps
watercolor

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

HEY KID! YOU CAN'T WEAR PJ'S TO SCHOOL UNTIL YOU CAN SPELL PAJAMAS AND USE IT IN A SENTENCE.

So the kid comes down ready for school in the pajamas he wore last night. I tell him he can't wear them to school and he tells me he's going to.
My thirteen year old ( not the kid in pajamas) says, "Lots of kids wear their pajamas to school."
REALLY? I thought there was a dress code.
You mean kids are sitting in class in lounge pants, without enough respect for their teachers or for their classmates to dress?
AND THE TEACHERS AND PARENTS WONDER WHY KIDS HAVE SUCH BAD ATTITUDES IN SCHOOL?
I can just envision English class. Several kids are draped over their desks, some barely awake. Many haven't combed their hair or ( from the smell of their breath) brushed their teeth.
TEACHER: Can anyone give me an example of a compound sentence?
KID: (Yawns and scratches head) Jim and me went to the store and bought us some sodas? Is that what you mean Danky?
( Notice here that the student is calling the teacher by a nickname.)
TEACHER: Well, the grammar wasn't correct, but you have the idea. Anyone else?
ANOTHER "STUDENT": ( Takes long draught from "waterbottle" full of Mountain Dew) I broke my Playstation 3 controller so I had to use my one from my number 2, which didn't work?
TEACHER: You guys are getting the hang of this. (Ducks as a half-eaten candy bar soars overhead...laughter errupts. Another young man says, "D###**" I meant that for Manny. I missed."
Suddenly, a young man in the back pulls a knife and threatens another student. A kid at a desk against the wall fondles a giggling girl and another student is backed against the wall shaking in terror. The teacher stands, his glasses broken and his prized collection of jazz records smashed to pieces, and...
OH, wait.
That's a movie I saw. Blackboard Jungle. I wondered why all this sounded so familiar. Nothing like this could happen in real life. COULD IT?
Then again, even in Blackboard Jungle kids weren't allowed to wear their pajamas to school....

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