Random thoughts

32 (teacher-student convo)

"I don't know isn't a good answer, ****"
"No, Mr. *******, I don't know is a great answer. I don't know is the best answer a teacher will ever get out of any student. I don't know is an answer that means that I am human and that everything you tell me to do isn't always done."
"The average person lives to about 70 years old. Sir, if I'm going to spend around 24 of those years in school, I'm going to a least live a little during that time."
"I don't get a lot of free time, considering that I wake up at around 7 each morning and spend all my time until 8 when I leave for school getting ready. And then I stay at school for about 6 and a half hours, it takes me around 45 minutes to get home and I have to go to bed at 10pm. That gives me only 6 hours to do what I want."
"6 hours is more than enough to to finish homework!"
"You didn't let me finish. School teaches us to have friends, so let's say I spend at least 1 hour talking with my friends. I have hobbies. That takes another hour. 4 hours left. I decide to spend an hour with my family that has raised me and taken care of me. 3 hours left. I still have to eat dinner and shower. That takes an hour."
"You still have 2 hours left."
"Another half an hour is spend cleaning my room and doing chores. 1 and a half hours left. Thirty minutes of that are gone when you add up the amount of times I walk around the house, finishing small tasks. And you know how we have to read for at least 20 minutes a day? That leaves me with 40 minutes left."
"To do homework."
"Well, the average student in my grade has around 6-8 teachers and 13 subjects. We get homework in 3-5 of them each day. Each sheet of homework takes at least 20 minutes to be done properly. 15 minutes of my time is spent making sure my bag is packed and doing my night routine. 25 minutes left."
"What's your point? That's 15 minutes to do your homework!"
"You tell us to do our homework properly."
"So?"
"3 classes with homework due, at least, and 25 minutes. That would mean around 7 minutes to do one page of homework when it should take around 20 to be done properly with minimal mistakes."
"Mr, you teach us to be organized with good time management, but when we want to have healthy relationships, hobbies and be an overall good child, you don't teach us the time management skills to do it and the stacks of homework we get."
"And when we tell you we were busy and didn't have time, you lecture us and tell us to find time. But what time is there? What time do we have?"
"Because every student in this room has a bright future and their own talents. For you to stick a pack of papers with problems on it for us to solve in the way is disabling some of us from pursuing our dreams."
"School is supposed to be against bullying, but school, just like bullies, crushes dreams and tell us that we aren't good enough."
"So, Mr, I don't know is the best answer anyone can get."