Children

Disclaimer - the author accepts no responsibility for his sounding like an old git.



For years I vowed I would never become a teacher. Children were a nuisance; a noisy, irritating necessity for the preservation of the human race. I`ve changed my mind since actually working with them. I now find them rewarding and not nearly as annoying as I once did. This could be because I can`t understand about 90% of what they`re saying...time will tell on that one.

It`s obvious when you put it into words, but childhood is an interesting and tumultuous period. The speed at which you change from a child into an adult is immense, and I never appreciated it whilst I was going through it.



Aren`t they cute? Who would have thought that these cheerful, energetic, up-for-anything fellows would turn into sullen, smelly, work-shy teenagers? The change during Elementary School is insidiously subtle, starting to take shape in the final year...suddenly some cute kids are noticeably bigger than the ones with further to go. Whilst playing what amounted to a game of tig with thirty Elementary Sixth graders, I sustained probably my first work related injury (a wonky finger). I played the same game with eighty (yes, 80 of the little bastards)First Graders, and walked away without so much as a scratch...although that day I learned the true meaning of "sweaty".



By the time they get to Junior High, the change accelerates alarmingly. When the First Grade started, they were a dazzling wall of bright eyes, bushy tails, yelling "onegaishimasu!" at the start of each lesson, with all the enthusiasm I had in the face of the excitement and slight fear of big school. Of course, as the year goes on, the hormones kick in, they learn from the older students and puberty begins in earnest. Dilligence wanes, certain bits of the body become immensely fascinating, the students become gobby and their mischief takes on a more calculating form. Only the other day I was presented with a plastic bowl of some green substance (complete with floating flower) that a pack of cackling girls assured me was Green Tea. Suspicion wasn`t even warranted. I politely declined the offer, suggesting they drink it instead.



When Sato sensei, the man solely responsible for ALT`s in Kawasaki, said that "Japanese children have no respect", I was reminded of Kitano `Beat` Takeshi`s character in Battle Royale, but he has a point. Maybe it`s a universal phenomenon. It`s particularly evident during the Second Grade of Junior High, roughly 13-15, considered by most teachers to be the hardest year. The school I wrote about in the previous entry is by far my roughest. Last week wasn`t so bad, but I think that`s down to my not having to teach the Second Graders. To be honest, I first visited that school before summer, and having abruptly left my comfortable, safe and familiar life in Bristol to find myself on the other side of the planet, illiterate in a strange country, flung straight into a job I still wasn`t sure about...I think I needed a holiday. Many students who, at that time, horrified me, I now just see as harmless, but cheekier than most. Some students still worry me, especially those who are almost nonchalant in their aggressive rejection of everything on offer



Places like that make me wonder what makes a bad school, especially when ten minutes up the road there`s a really good school. There are probably all sorts of factors; funding, staff and I suppose once serious discipline problems take hold, it`s only a matter of time before the other students follow suit. I`ve actually spoken to some teachers at that school, and they`ve gradually revelead that the problem can be traced to one man; the head of the Second Grade. His manner of dealing with the students is apparently disciplinarian to say the least. It`s difficult to get details across when language and professional tact & courtesy are issues, but it seems that the students feel ill-treated, confused and angry with his methods...hence, in part, the mass rebellion against all other authority figures. The thing is, this man has no contact with the students, unless it`s in the classroom, or the corridor, administering a wagging finger. It`s the Home Room Teachers, in many ways more responsible for the students than the parents, who are left to pick up the pieces. I`ve actually got it comparatively lucky with that school - Ueno san has told me a story about an ALT who got beaten up by three Second Graders because he told them off for eating in class.



By the time they hit the Third Grade, the hormones have calmed down somewhat. They`re starting to form real opinions and becoming more rounded characters. With regards to my subject, by this point their English is pretty good, and they still have a childish sense of humour. My favorite students are the really cheeky boys who can string sentences together, usually obscene, with a degree of confidence. One memorable character constantly introduces his friend as "Mr Masturbation". Troublesome students can`t be bothered to be that disruptive - they`d rather play truant, which is fine by me.

In May, I was giving speaking tests to an entire grade - I mentioned this in the entry for that week, but doing something that repetitive really brings out the characters. One boy in particular stood out. He sat down in front of me, plonked down his score sheet and didn`t say a word. I fired question after question at him, being greeted with stony silence, as he clearly saw no point in learning English, and resented being taught it. Finally I asked him if he could speak English, and he said "No", so I gave him a point. This prompted him to say "No" even more, in protest, whilst he gestured that I remove that point from the score sheet. Even though he was making my job difficult, I admired his defiant stance, as it was so decisive and not remotely malicious. I wonder where he`s going.