Teenage attitude

I got to observe young teenagers at work today when I taught eighth grade science and now I'm scared. They are so full of hormones and attitude it is terrifying.

I know a lot of it is swagger. The boys swagger around the girls and act out, the girls giggle and whisper around the boys. It's kind of funny. If you turned off the soundtrack (and who wouldn't want to turn off the soundtrack?), it could almost be a show on the nature channel.

I made the mistake of letting the kids use Slinkys today and in one period, they managed to wreck, not one, not two, but three Slinkys. The kids just got to hyper. This is a testment to the aforementioned hormones and the fact that I am a brand new substitute teacher who is used to well-behaved, grade-grubbing college students.

I had several kids who were throwing things, talking loudly, laughing. I'm sure it's all just another day at the middle school but I had to keep it under control. So I went and sat next to the one kid who was really acting out. I also stood among the loud, giggling girls and asked them to stop. "We're not doing anyting. We're talking," one girl practically shreiked and she gave me the eye roll. "Attitude," I said with a smile. "I'm not giving you attitude," she said with a huge amount of attitude. "OK, if you say so," I said. "I call that attitude."

There were plenty more encounters during the day.The kid on the skateboard. The kid who went to put on goggles. The kid throwing pencils and writing on his friend's shirt. It's OK. They're testing me. Apparently, the job of the substitute is to put up with a bunch of craap to prove themselves and then go home. Fun, fun.

When I came home, I walked in on a conversation between my two boys and blurted out something that had nothing to do with what they were talking with. My youngest son, who mind you is only 10, shreiked out "We're talking about something totally different. You don't even know what we're talking with. That's very rude." Then he gave me the eye roll.

OMG! "Attitude," I said. "Don't roll your eyes at me. I wasn't interrupting. I was joining in and I don't like the attitude.

If W. is a teenager when he's just short of 10, what will he be like when he's 13 or 14 and he has all those hormones pushing him to show off in front of the girls and mouth off to the substitute teacher? I hope I don't have nightmares just thinking about it.