Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Teaching losers

Now, to be fair, the vast - VAST - majority of students I teach are wonderful. Truly.

But, I also teach losers.

Despite the instinct to want to see the best in the students before you, while there many not be many, they are unmistakable.

At least to adults.

To fellow teens, they may appear cool.

These are the students who skip school.
They talk back.
The are purposefully defiant.
They antagonise other students.

Again, they are the extreme minority.
In fact, there’s only a handful of true losers who pop into my mind.

But, given enough time - and without a significant change in behaviour and attitude - they will become losers.

For, they won’t earn the marks to get into university.
They will have few options after schooling.
They won’t have developed a work ethic to hold down a quality job.
They will struggle to maintain significant relationships.

And when they are 22 they will look into the mirror and see a loser.
They will wonder how they spent the last 6-8 years.
They will wonder how they wasted their start in adulthood.

I know…
I was a loser.

I wasted my time in my senior years of high school.
I didn’t work hard.
I didn’t study effectively.
I was more interested in the canteen than the classroom.

At one point, I seriously considered redoing my final years of high school again.

Fortunately, after 21, the opportunity to be a mature-aged student at university is a viable option for those with the drive and effort.

For those who lose at school, all is not lost.

You can commit to study.
You can commit to a trade.
You can commit to your profession.

But, for those who waste their (and everyone else’s) time during high school, they are a loser.

They just haven’t fully developed into one yet…

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