Why My Job Is Hard

I found these two news stories online today. Both of them have something in common, and that is irresponsible adults. Both of them were irresponsible in their own way. One of the things that makes my job difficult, and it's not the only thing mind you, is parents who are not responsible. I just want to make sure that no one reading this is taking this as a personal criticism. Most parents are quite responsible, but the parents who let their kids control everything and do whatever they want, when they want to, really make teaching more difficult. Some students with parents like these expect to be the center of attention in class and for me to cater to their every whim. Well I can't, and shouldn't, do that. I have about 29 other students at a time who I have to worry about, but some of these students just can't take "no" for an answer.

I don't have any children of my own, so perhaps I am a bit out of line here, but I believe that if more parents were to set well defined boundaries for their children, the children would be able to become more responsible for their learning in school.

Anyway, whatever your opinion, I'm sure that you'll agree with me about the parents described here as not being very responsible.

The first story is about a father who let his nine-year-old son drive a car in an occupied parking lot. The kid ran the car into a Jeep in the parking lot. The father felt that everyone was blowing the incident out of proportion.

"They're making a big deal out of nothing," said the father, Robert Samuel Sr., 46, of 2813 Burnet Ave. No one was hurt and the damage to both cars was minor,
Samuel said.

While the damage was minor, it could have been much worse. If Mr. Samuel wants to let his nine-year-old drive a car, maybe he should make sure it is somewhere where no one else is put at risk.

This first article really doesn't even compare to the second one. This story involves a 29-year-old woman who allegedly had sexual relations with an eight-year-old boy, a friend of her daughter. I didn't believe this story when I first heard about it yesterday, but when I read this follow up article, I was outraged. The "adult" in the situation had the gall to blame the eight-year-old for the incident.

The divorced Birch Drive resident has told investigators the boy a playmate of her own 7-year-old daughter was the aggressor in their relationship. Imre said he ordered her to dump an adult boyfriend and told her not to take birth control pills.

If this statement is even true, why didn't she tell the boy "no!?" I mean really,the boy was eight years old. I seriously doubt he could have forced himself on her. Besides, why would he make any comments about her not taking her birth control pills? That just doesn't make sense. She was supposed to be the adult there. The child should not have been the one to make a decision like that.