Culture of Ignore-ance

There are a group of five kids that always run through the hallways all day long.

Although it sends a really bad message to all the other students in the school to have these students holding an impromptu dance session during my math quiz there is not much I can do. Well not exactly...I could say something to them, but that doesn't make any sense. I am running a math quiz! There are enough kids in there who are actually trying to pass the test at the end of the year and get a diploma at the end of four. For me to deal with THOSE kids (who occasionally have the gall to wander into my room and distract my lesson by the way) I would have to get out in the hallway and yell at them, walk them to their class, have their teacher start yelling at them, and if they are really obstinate get a principal or a dean to yell at them. In fact the dean or principal should be the ones who deal with them in the first place.

The deans and principals had a meeting last week explaining why they are not the ones dealing with these students in the first place. The teachers are the ones who do not have the gall to put a student in their place and not let them leave the room. If you teach one of those five students they expect that you will not let them leave ever, no matter the cost. The deans and principals have much bigger fish to fry, handling fights, suspending people and fixing the school for example. Stuff like walking out of class is such an egrigious offense in any classes that any teacher who is letting that stuff fly chose the wrong job or is at least in the wrong neighborhood.

During one class of the day I have to teach about 3 of these 5 kids, and when I see them it is clear that they spend the whole of their time in class trying to run out and leave. Like I can stand in the door and have kids threaten to punch me in my face if don't leave and I've waited them out to where they are sitting down across the class, only to have them sprint towards the door after I walk away. Other times I've had kids get physical with me and try to push me out from the doorway. So as these kids run past I lock the door behind them, and instead of calling their parents or their advisor or even security I say "fine I'll let him get in trouble, if the deans see him they'll catch him." Once in the hallway these same kids get ignored by the principals and deans because they are so frequently in the hallway. Instead of swooping them up and suspending them they quietly mumble to themselves "thats that new teacher, those teachers need to get their stuff together" but they never go to help the teachers.

So this creates an equilibrium of ignore-ance surrounding this one student. They can run in and out of class and through the hallways basically ignored by their teachers and the deans. These kids have no consequence except the occasional "get back in class" or "no you can't go to the bathroom right now." The five kids who had this equilibrium have grown to 10 and to 15. They've gone from casually walking around in the hallways to having full on parties in the hallway without consecuence. why no consecuence? Well the teachers think that its the admin's job, they think its our job, and the kids...are pretty much ignored.