please ignore the broken chair in the corner » Students

Oh, how we laugh!

thebrokenchair — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:35:58 +0000

I am a ’slag’. As such I deserve to have a[n empty] cardboard box shoved onto my toes. I also deserve to be treated with contempt and ignored.

I am worthless, obviously.

Thank you, Student Who Is Normally Nice.

How old are you?

thebrokenchair — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:01:58 +0000

She stared at me. You’ve lost weight. It was a statement, not a question.

Hey Betty, you sexy beast! laughed the Tired Boy.

Later the Tired Boy was stroppy, lolling around on the floor in the manner of a five year old, rather than the fifteen year old he is.

How old are you?

I’m tired, he whinged.

They have exams coming up. They’re limited in what they can take (English Language, and Maths) at GCSE, but in the main they like the fact that they can achieve something, even if it’s not their full potential. And let’s be honest - many of them left their full potential sitting crumpled in a corner when they started being all silly in mainstream school.

They know that. And often they want to show that they are capable, that they’re not just teenage wastes of space.

Which is why it’s so irksome when the intelligent Tired Boy prefers to idly lounge around instead of working.

Tsk.

Where are we?

thebrokenchair — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:54:44 +0000

They come from dysfunctional homes, where the norm is to hit and swear and shout. They live for the present, not for the future. They see their future as being devoid of choice, mapped out already, full of more dysfunction – where the norm is to hit and swear and shout. Authority is something to be treated with distrust and kindness is something to be wary of.

If they scream loudly enough they know they’ll grab your attention.

But they are just little kids, full of fear, pain and regret. They have dreams. They have hopes. But they never expect these to be fulfilled.

They’re worthless.

Sometimes it’s possible to make them aware that actually they can act on their dreams. We offer them an alternative. And then they leave us, aged sixteen, and it all goes to pot.

Sometimes.

If they’re lucky, they do succeed and achieve their potential.

And if they’re not?

Well.

These are naughty kids. This is my job. And I love it.