I refuse!

We all went to school, right? I have a question. Did it EVER occur to you to refuse to not do assignments your teacher gave in class? I'm guessing you're response is something along these lines: "Are you kidding? I would have been punished at school and then my dad would have whooped my behind when I got home!" I bring this up because of an alarming trend I've noticed among my students. A large number of students REFUSE to do any school work on a daily basis. I'm not talking about an occasional missing assignment or somebody having a bad day and not doing some work. I'm talking about students not doing any school work... ever! This may surprise a lot of you and you may ask questions like, "Can't you call the parents?" or "Can't you impose some sort of consequences?". Well, lack of parental support is a big part of the problem and an even bigger part of the problem is the lack of any consequences that can be imposed. Meaning, there are no consequences available to the teachers of my school. Detention does not exist. Taking away recess is not an option because we have such a skeleton staff that there is no one available to supervise those students. In short, my hands are tied and believe me, the kids know it. They can do no work at all and they know there is not a doggone thing I can do about it. The implied attitude is, "I am going to do whatever I want and I'd like to see you try to get me to do anything otherwise". It's not a pleasant position to be in. I feel like I've been neutered and am completely powerless to change anything.

On a related note, it's these same students who are doing absolutely nothing in class that are being completely disruptive. Isn't that what you'd expect? These kids are in my classroom for hours on end doing nothing. Being bored out of their skulls, they disrupt the class because it's the only thing they can do to pass the time. And for those who might suggest that I make my lessons more interesting or stimulating... I'm practically standing on my head as it is. I'm sensitive to the fact that kids get bored easily and school can be tough. I do my very best to keep things moving and to not let my lessons get stale. But there's only so much a teacher can do. Some kids just aren't going to respond no matter what you do. That's just a fact of life.

Please note--- This is not a commentary on all public schools. I can only speak for my little corner of the world. If you sense frustration in this post you are are on target. The inmates are running the asylum and there is no real hope of anything changing. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going back to work (bangs head against wall).