MAY I have your attention?

Many of my students don't even bother to complain.

After four years of Pandemic Schooling, Gen Z and Gen Alpha have exhausted their patience and hope for traditional school. Which puts me in a pickle, because I was teacher-trained between 2017-2021. I have done my best to adapt more creative, engaging, and meaningful lessons, but the generations of tomorrow are out of practice thinking of the future. My students sleep or play on their phones during class. Sometimes I can pull them out of the app-drunk stupor to enjoy a lesson, but those days are few and far between. While initially I was driven mad by this lethargy, I have come to accept it as a scar on the minds of young adults. 

Their precious formative years were spent in isolation, anxiety, and eventually exhaustion. Zoom school was a nightmare for everyone. I was just beginning my teaching internship when we introduced the online models-- by the middle of the year, my ears were raw and bleeding from using earbuds (I eventually splurged on over-the-ear headphones). Many of my students kept their cameras off, and didn't respond when I asked them a question or when it was time to end the class. I later learned many were playing Roblox, Subway Surfers, and Friday Night Funkin' while I delivered my lessons. I couldn't even get mad; at least they were playing together. They had something in their lives to rebel and unite against (me).

Two years back in physical schools, and teachers have observed a wide range of development in their pupils. This year, I simply don't know what to do. The students I am with have no drive, no ambition, no desire to learn. I can't rightly blame them either-- after all they have been through, and all of the development and socialization they have missed, it is unfair to expect them to think of anything beyond their own healing. My fear lies in the fact that the world won't wait for them to finish healing.  I am only fifteen years older than these kids, but I have never known a world where many folks succeed without catching up. Sure, a few of my kids will be fine, but what about the rest?

As hurt and academically disabled by the pandemic as these children are, it is irresponsible of me (and all teachers) to coddle them and allow them to do serious damage to their future. It is imperative that we help students however we can to find a pulse of interest. At the very least, help them be invigorated by something.

One thing I found that students had success in are very structured assignments that grant a fair bit of artistic freedom. Not all students are artists, but all of my students have access to printers. They were to choose one of four topics to research and create a physical poster on to present to the class. The art I see on assignments like that are the most expressive works I get from my students. It is my hope that I can lure more of that expression out of them in other areas, helping them get in the habit of putting a bit of heart into their work. I always make sure to tell them when I am proud of what they have done. 

I am angry and grieving for the golden years of my youth that were stolen out from under me. Everybody lost those four years. But the period of life that each person has lost is different, and the younger generations were robbed of something that can never be returned. Though the capacity for empathy, manners, and kindness has deteriorated greatly in the past five years, I have sometimes been shocked by the lack of these traits presenting in those that came after me. It could be just another iteration of the old adage "kids these days," but I think those of use raised before the pandemic will understand what I'm getting at. Just look at post-covid concert videos. How are the newbies behaving? 

"Where has the etiquette gone?" frustrated Millennials and Gen-X cry out online. @glitterKitty9000 posted a video to TikTok of a K-Pop fan in front of her at a concert, blocking the view of those behind her with a massive sign, oblivious to the many people whose experience she was impacting negatively.

The game of teaching has changed. We must help the youth grow up to be decent, considerate people. Rather than teaching reading, writing, math, and science, I think modern teachers must focus on helping children connect with something that ties them to the world. Something they'll gladly give their attention to, and grow toward. Maybe something to whine about, too; at least they'll care enough to do so.