Growing Pains

I grew up in East Chicago, IN, a small town outside of Chicago. The area I was raised in, Calumet, was a tight-knit community.  A lot of us were related to each other by blood or baby mama. Many had roots originating in the South. Most, to my knowledge, coming from Alabama and Georgia. 

Back then, as was customary during that time, the community was active in the kids' lives. I remember getting in trouble and my mother hearing about it from two or three people before she made it home. Stories about neighbors whipping each other's kids are common. 

That era began to die out as I was a teenager. In came new age where kids were talking back to adults without any fear of consequences. I even got bit by the bug in high school. 

I tried to get a friend out of class and the teacher slammed (or shut the door harder than I like) the door on me. As the door was closing, I called her a bitch. The teacher told the Dean or someone and I was called into an interrogation. After lying for what seemed like hours, I finally admitted to it and got suspension AND detention. My uncle was watching me while my mother was on a trip. I got in trouble by him and then had to wait in suspense for my mom. When she came home, I got a good old fashioned...well let's just say I regretted it. 

My treatment of the teacher was not an isolated incident. At that time, disrespect for peers and authority was on the rise. But, we knew exactly who to test, especially since corporal punishment was still allowed. The teacher I called a bitch was a white woman. Had it been one of the black teachers or a few select white ones, the outcome would've been different. I don't even know if I'd have made it to the office unscathed by words or wood (paddle).  

Today, twenty years later, not only can the teacher not touch kids, neither can the neighbors or parents. This may be a benefit since there's a thin line between discipline and abuse. People can hardly communicate without feelings being hurt. People think they have free reign over what they can say and do to each other. Adults don't always know how to reach the kids. Kids don't always want to be reached. Both sometimes repel others by their words and action. 

Who's minding the store? Who's making sure that the produce is fresh and the product protected? That core values are upheld while remaining current with trends? How can balance between the fluid roles of teacher and student be achieved?

I don't know the answers.  But one thing I know for sure is I'm glad social media didn't exist when I was navigating through adolescence and early adulthood!