Boys and American Media

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I have one class that is extremely reminiscent of my 8th period boys choir at HMS... all guys (because this is a mechanics specialty class), all very noisy, and a handful that are really interested in learning while the others would rather be goofy the whole time. Only difference is age - 12/13 vs. 16/17 - and desire to please me... sometimes. I can at least get these Chilean boys to shut up by threatening to not return. They seem to relish every compliment I give. When I assign a task and a couple people start to do it, I praise them by name aloud, and the others start waving their work in the air seeking compliments too. If one student answers something correctly, and I give him a big "excellent! That's exactly right!" Then there is an escalating "Aaah!" and/or applause from the rest. On the other hand, when I start to hate on someone, the others try to get him into more trouble. Must be a guy thing because I don't get it.

I started talking about qualities of a lover with a class and they sat in silence for a while with nothing until one girl called out "f***in!" and quickly covered her mouth. I stood apalled for a moment. "Do you even know what that means?" I asked, and when she didn't answer (probably didn't understand the question), I decided it best not to dwell on such language. Ugh... American media.

This has since happened again with s*** and it's only been three weeks of classes. I've also been informed that American porn has a large presence down here among increasingly younger audiences. It breaks my heart some of the things that America shares...

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