There is a crisis of caring, and I’m at war with the apathy of my students.
Generation indifference. It’s not me, though that was my first guess. Vape, head down, repeat. They hate me, but they don’t.
I asked around, and it happens to any given teacher at any given time. Good teachers, teachers who are beloved, and deserve to be. I asked the kids what each of their teachers do to address the ‘Sleepy Magoo Syndrome’—named it myself—dropping books, blasting horns, making phone calls, and my personal favorite,sniping cell phones.
Euphemisms make reality tolerable, but they further blow off a massive problem, one that gnaws off a tiny piece of my spirit every day. I’m worried, and you should be, too.
As an English teacher on the front lines since 2007, I’ve had a unique vantage point, one I consider a sacred privilege: I open the door with writing assignments, and students pour their hearts out on paper. I read their problems, including…
