This is the Part They Don't Tell You About In College

I'm feeling rather sad lately. As my profile says, I'm a teacher, and I work at a middle school teaching orchestra and general music. Today, my second student was referred to the principal for drug possession. Yes, at a middle school. On top of that, I've reported two cases of abuse and one self-inflicted harm - cutting. I have a very heavy heart today. Where are the moms and dads? How can they not know - or worse, not care? A student told me today that one of her friends cut herself because a guy was pressuring her to have sex. A fourteen-year-old! What is wrong with this world? These are kids!
So this is what they don't tell you in college. They tell you about teaching methods, classroom management, special ed, and fundraising, but not this. They don't tell you about how your heart breaks for the little girl missing her daddy because he left her and her mom alone. They don't tell you about the boy who doesn't want to join a gang but is afraid he'll get hurt if he doesn't. Or about the girl who has such low self-esteem that she'll do anything to get her mom's attention, including hurt herself. They left out those parts. This is what makes teaching so hard.
So would you pray for my students? They don't come from good neighborhoods, and it's tough to stay out of trouble. It's hard to get good grades living out of a car. Please pray for them.


Leah