I guess I’m at that time in my life. Of course, it could be caused by the fact that I work with teens. Oh, ya. What am I talking about…
I hate people. Ok, I severely dislike human beings and their nature. Here’s what irks me today: I want to teach my students to be good, kind, trustworthy, loving people. However, the world is teaching them to be selfish, greedy, and worry only about themselves. The world wants these kids to treat other people like crap and then laugh about it. The world is teaching these kids that authority figures are stupid and they don’t have to respect anyone, much less adults.
I feel as if I tell them to act like a good person and they look at me the same way kids looked at me when I was a kid. They act like I’m being prude, or a goody-goody, or lame, or square. And while I’m not particularly worried about what they think of me, I do worry about how they will continue to act in the future. I could act appropriately, teach with my words and lead by example, but it feels as if they just don’t get it. They are determined to be rude, disrespectful, and perverted people.
Perhaps this is just children. Which is why I thought it might just be that I am at that time in my life. Instead of having kids at the age of 27, and then dealing with their teenage versions 13 years from now, I am dealing with 120 different middle schoolers at the same time; most of whom are acting or beginning to act more and more perverse, rude, etc. So, it’s probably just hitting me harder. I am trying to teach these kids respect and love among all else and I don’t see it in return. So, naturally, I just assume they’re not picking it up, meaning I’m not getting through to them. But I’m not a bad teacher…. am I?
Leading by example is hard. I guess (because I’ve been told this before) I’ll never really know what kind of impact I’ve had on a child’s life until I see them at the supermarket with their own kid one of these days…
Adult Under Construction 
Nice post! I feel you on all of this. I rant about kids these days all the time on my blog posts. Kids’ foul mouths along with their disrespect, lack of manners, technologically morphed brains, and nonexistent grammar is so numbingly painful. It is so horrid, that I can never type exactly what I feel because it is all too overwhelming.
You are working with one of the hardest age groups ever. I have worked with them at school and at church. They are more emotional, etc. Very in to themselves or each other. The key is to be stable and a good example. Just keep putting out good stuff for them to learn in material and as a person. It’s not you. This latest set of middle schoolers seems to be even tougher to work with. So just keep plugging along and look for those good moments as they come.