One of my friends who's a middle school administrator sent this to me via the inner-district mail:
Apparently, one of the seventh grade boys drew this in art. As the class was getting ready to leave he walked up to a girl and said, "Hey, you wanna see my cock?" Then he flashed this picture....he, he, he.
Don't get me wrong. An administrator in that situation has to take some kind of disciplinary action. It was totally inappropriate and he needs to receive a consequence, but really now, that's funny. Having to issue a consequence for that kind of double entendre humor (and it happens all the time) is always a source of inner conflict for me. I do it, but secretly I want say to kids, "Don't lose that irreverence. The ability to amuse yourself with your own wit can make for a very satisfying life." I can't imagine the Hell that would break loose on my campus if I ever actually did that. Yikes!
Stories like that are one of the reasons I loved working at the middle school level. The kids are so unpredictable they constantly do things that are both shocking and hilarious, piercing their own tongue in the girls' bathroom or playing tag with dry ice in their science class. More than once I've had to send students out of my office because their decision making has completely caught me off guard and I'm on the verge of laughing out loud.
They are also prone to making decisions that can severely limit their future options. It's one of the great stressors of the job. A kid's bad decison, a set of angry/upset/devastated parents, law enforcement and a school context is a really hard combination. In fact, I think I would say that being a middle school vice principal is the hardest job I've done yet in education. It came with a lot of joy and professional satisfaction, but it sure did raise my blood pressure.
