What makes it ok?

I teach in what could be considered an "inner city" school. It is in a a relatively low-income neighborhood. There is a definite gang presence on campus, although typically not a violent one. Although there are plenty of high-performing students on campus, there are a lot at the other extreme as well.
I teach a class of those students at the bottom end of the spectrum. It is a literacy intervention course, bascially it is third grade phonics for high schoolers who were never taught to read, or who do not read at grade level. While the academic side of this class is challenging, that is not my biggest obstacle in teaching this group. What make it difficult is the culture and lifestyle of these students that goes against everything I try to teach them. Getting an education simply is not a priority to them. They come to school to be with their friends and because they find it too boring to stay home.
I have spent many a stressful day wondering what happened to these young students that has made them so jaded so early in their academic career. I wonder what legitimizes their behavior in their own minds. For instance:
what makes it ok to use profanity in the classroom?
what makes it ok to talk back to the teacher?
what makes it ok to turn every comment made into a gross sexual joke?
what makes it ok to be on probation and have a criminal record at 15?
what makes it ok to be drinking and doing drugs at such a young age?
what makes it ok to refuse to do school work and not take responsibility for one's own education?
I could go on and on. What has happened to these kids? Who is to blame? I know a lot of the blame rests on the parents. If they had made these behaviors unacceptable in the home, they might not have tried them elsewhere. I could blame their past teachers. Afterall, how does a student enter high school reading at only a second grade level? I could blame the environment and culture in which they live, one where gangs run the streets and crime often does pay. Perhaps I am even to blame for part of it. I sometimes wonder if I had been a more dynamic teacher and taught more inspiring lessons, perhaps I could have made a difference. Although there are many who could be blamed for this, the ultimate responsibility for these students' behavior will rest on them.
I have come to realize soemthing however. As much as it saddens me to see where these kids are headed, I realize there is very little I can do to stop them. It's a much bigger issue than can be solved in the two hours I am with them each day. I believe it takes a very special kind of teacher to effectively reach these kids, and I don't believe I am that teacher. But I do hope, for their sakes, that one of those teachers crosses their paths one day.

I read my Bible yesterday

I was on a break at work and took my pocket Bible out and read it. It was the first time in a long time that I had done this. I keep a little New Testament in my bag with the intentions of reading it regularly. But my reading has been anything but regular.
I was having a rough morning. My students were driving me crazy. I had kicked several out of class for talking back, not doing their work, and using profanity. My stress level, and probably my blood pressure, were a little higher than I'd like them to be. I needed something to calm me down.
So I opened up to the first chapter of Galatians. I read two chapters, ones I have probably read 15 times before. I didn't receive any great revelation or insight. Nothing leaped off the pages and into my heart. I simply read. When the bell rang telling students to head to class, I put it away feeling a little better than I did when I picked it up. I was refreshed. It was like a nice big smoothie after a good workout.
It felt so good that I read my Bible again today.

Why I started Blogging

I am a writer and a thinker, more so the latter than the former. I find I can best expres myself and articulate my thoughts if I write them down. Often if I have something important to say to someone, I will write them a letter rather than dicsuss it in person. I know this doesn't exactly follow proper etiquette, but it gets the job done effectively.
I have submitted articles to online magazines and other websites; some of them got published, others were laughed at. I even wrote a book, which has sold a whopping 100 copies. These have provided me the creative outlet I need, as well as a little satisfaction knowing that people are reading my stuff. But now as I grow older, and life becomes more demanding, I find the need to continue to express myself, but do not have the time to seek proper avenues of publication.
Enter Blogger.com. This newly established blog enables me to "freely speak my mind" and put it out there for the world to read. It is not so much that they need to listen to what I have to say, it is more that I need to get these things down on paper (or in this case, a keyboard).
So, I begin my blog. My thoughts may range from personal to relational to spiritual to political. By they are my thoughts. Read if you want, but I am going to express them anyway.