Had I been in a different vocation I would not have really understood what teenagers go through these days. I asked them in class some weeks ago what their main concerns were and I was pleasantly surprised by their open confessions and views.
I am glad they opened up to me and caused me to see them from a different angle. Mind you though their problems may seem childish and child-like in our eyes, they are nevertheless real in their growing up process.
Student A : Oh, teacher we face peer pressures like back -stabbing and bad mouthing and sometimes the people whom we trust most played us out. It is so hurtful.
Student B : When my parents do not understand me, I seek help from other peers and sometimes I pick up their smoking habits. I also want to be cool like them.
Student C : I skip school cos I don't like studies and I really hate that guy in my class ! I am stressed out by my parents' insistence that I do well. I don't like school.
Student D : Everyone says I am big and ugly. I want to be as slim as those girls in the pic. Why can't I be beautiful like them?
Student E : Why does everyone like her? How come I am not well-liked? How can I be more popular? Help, I want to be accepted.
Teeangers face woes of every other kind not mentioned above too. Popularly discussed are boy-girl relationships and their poor grasp of the situation they are in sometimes result in misunderstandings and hurtful experiences. Some grow up faster while others take a longer time. Some children grow up in a more wholesome family while others may be coping with parents who fight in the home. It is heart-wrenching to see some break down when they mention problematic home environment and their inability to handle life's issues; let alone cope with challenges in school.
It is even more heart-wrenching when students strike one another at the minutest provocation and cause havoc in an otherwise serene atmosphere. When students are in trouble, teachers naturally stretch out to help. However, at times when time is running short and having to cope with all forms of expectations in school, teachers may not provide assistance on time. This may lead to other complications when some students get physically hurt and the fight goes on and on. A solution somehow has to surface and students are then taught, guided and persuaded to do what is right.
Behind the scene in the midst of these teenage woes and misunderstandings, teachers can sometimes break down in their tireless effort to resolve such issues. It is indeed heart-wrenching when teachers weep in moments of helplessness and despair. Have you seen sincere teachers weeping for students and because of students? I have...many times. It is heart-wrenching. Teachers weep not because of their own children but because of the stress of having to fight the battle with a brave front...to be tired out, then to pick oneself up... and then to go on...because of the vocation they are in...part and parcel of being a 'cikgu' .
Heart-Wrenching indeed.
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