Man, why oh why do I have to end up seeing the crappy side of life that I like to think doesn't exist? I got to see all these pictures of local gang grafitti and local gang members (14 year olds, no less) flashing gang signs and all kinds of crap at the gang awareness presentation for my school. I want to truly believe in the innocence of my students and of my community, but then you see all this stupid pointless crap. It is so stupid, it makes me want to cry.
I believe that we have gotten to a point where our identities are foist upon us just like any other product in our consumer society. My students rebel through neatly marketed channels in order to distinguish themselves from their peers. But it's all the same crap. I remember having to have a member's only jacket to be cool, and izod and levi's and who knows what else, in order to fit in. I see my students going after an entire lifestyle, most notably this gangsta/thug ethic. The sad part of it is that the whole thing is just smoke and mirrors. Gangsta rappers portray an image that isn't real and kids emulate that image and think that they are engaging in real life. MC Dumbass gets paid millions to act like a gangsta and talk about dealing and pimping and every other kind of stupid thing that makes up the baser realms of our society. Sad thing is that not only are my kids into it, so are their parents. I've seen grandparents wearing 50 cent and Tupac t-shirts. Look around Lenoir and count the number of affluent white women in big shiny suv's with ridiculous chrome wheels on it, talking on their cell-phones. Or all the rednecks with "Orange County Choppers" stickers in their windows (like anyone actually owns one around here). It's all a show. For who, though?
It is truly a small town mentality when everybody runs around doing unoriginal things in a never ending game of oneupsmanship in order to impress the people around you. Please. Where is the exit for this ride 'cause I want off. I think about our state motto: Esse Quam Videri, to be rather than to seem. It seems like the only thing that counts is how you appear, not how you really are.
I watched a 1964 Francois Truffaut movie called, The Soft Skin, with Golden the other night. It was striking that the main character, M. Lachenay, was a famous intellectual in France. He was like a rock star, women wanted his autograph, men watched im as he went by. It was striking because, who in America is famous for being an intellectual? The closest thing we have is Bill Gates and I would posit that he is famous for being extremely wealthy, not smart. How do I convince 13 and 14 year olds that the key to success lies with their mind, not the ability to put a ball in a hoop (or an endzone, or out of a ball park) or the willingness to risk jail to deal drugs? The real problem for them is that the real world ends with the border of Lenoir. The rest of the world is such an abstract concept that they can actually get caught up in the stupidity that can easily pass for an adulthood here. I, for one, welcome the influx of people moving here from other parts of the country. I hope it brings a greater diversity of thought and expectations for this area. Maybe the best way to appreciate where you live, is to see with the eyes of a person who has never been there...
3 comments:
I'm afraid these thoughts or attitudes or not limited to Lenoir. I'm afraid it is the ""dumming down" of America.
School does at times represent what goes on locally and nationally. What I see in schools is the breakdown of the family. So, you have hormone crazed youths going to school to find their identity from other hormone crazed youths doing the same. The result is what Shawn describes so eloquently in his blog - a society living out dream lives in a dream world. What else are they going to base their identity on if not getting at home? Well, the teachers of course. I mean with their "huge salaries" surely they have time to teach my child higher education, discipline, preparedness for the working world AND be their parent. This is why I pray for teachers a lot. My wife was a teacher for close to 10 years in high school and junior high. She had very tough days. But, these kids that stare at you blankly or the ones with immature hyperness that explodes out of them without cause or "I'm too cool for my shirt" attitudes - they all have memory chips. The hope is that when they see teachers act like a decent human that actually cares for people that this will be imprinted on that memory chip. It's that chip that may become activated later in life when it really matters. So rock on teachers and help my teenage child who thinks he is 13 going on 21 and acts like he is 13 going on 7. I guess he takes after his dad.
The local wildlife and culture is the reason I get the Grom out of town as much as is possible. There are a multitude of people, places and ideas out in this marvelous world. Material things are fleeting and if we treat others that lots of things give you value, then those fleeting material possessions take on a life of their own. The fancination and romanticism of lawbreakers and "bad boys" is nothing new; look at how Billy the Kid was celebrated. Movies and TV shows are fiction and kids need to be taught that in the home, from their parents. Unfortunately, a lot of parents are too wrapped up in their own dramas to teach their kids, but the kids are influenced just the same.
Another thing to consider, the years from 11 - 16 are full of angst, anguish, hormones and fear. Those are not the best years of your life! And many of those vacuous middle-schoolers will grow and develop into bright, fun young adults. I am very glad that you are a person of influence in the Grom's atmosphere. He is a radically liberal free-thinker in a very repressed high-school culture. I do disagree with you on one point: One CAN have TOO many bikes!
Post a Comment