The Grinch

I had an interseting week at school---life changing would be a better way to say it.
Not so much life changing for me......

My class of course brought up the topic of Christmas and presents...that seems to be the buzz with anyone under the age of 15. I was curious to be informed of the hot items this year that I most likely havent even heard of and the items that the kids will be getting that I wont. ha!

So I allowed for a deviation from the topic of poetry to allow them to indulge. I have found that kids wont concentrate anyways if they can't get something out of their system that they find important.

Long story short....one thing led to another and within moments the kids were talking about the time when they found out santa wasn't real. I then stopped and asked, "does anyone believe in Santa?" No child responded and let a few kids share their story---some were quite funny! Most of them involved the parents getting caught by the kids in some way, shape, or form.

I then arrived to school the next morning to have a not so kind e-mail from a parent. I ruined Christmas for her child as she did still believe in Santa until I blew it for her.

My boss was informed which then led to a conversation with her and so on.

This whole experience led me to think of an issue that comes to mind so often in teaching.

When you choose to send your children to public school, you are giving up your FULL influence. They will learn about sex and drugs on the bus, homosexuality at lunch, swear words in their classes, stealing at recesss and the list goes on. There is no longer a bubble around your child because the amount of students and teachers who have influence and exposure to them...it's unattainable. Is it bad? No, not always; public school can offer a great education it just might not all fall under your preference.

Who knew I would someday become a part of some child's story about how they found out Santa wasn't real. Am I proud of it? No. Am I convinced a middle schooler should still believe in Santa? Not exactly.