Hissy Fit

You wouldn't think that a high school boy would just let loose and throw a hissy fit, but that's totally what happened today ...

All I wanted to do was have a nice, structured little review session for an upcoming test, but no, I had to be interrupted ... Over and over and over ... By the same kid and his stupid iPod headphones ...

So, I took them. No big deal, really.

I must confiscate at least one item per day, so I've got a system now: Just calmly walk over, hold my hand out for contraband object and/or nuisance, and place it safely in my desk drawer until the end of the day. Usually this goes by without a hitch and the student sits quietly and sadly, mentally kicking him/herself for getting caught.

This time, something different happened ...

"I'm going to get those back TODAY!" I hear him shout.

Seriously. Just like that. "TODAY!"

If he were standing, he probably would have stomped his foot for emphasis.

Wonderful.

So, class finally ends, he leaves, and I begin to get ready for the last period of the day ... Until he shows up again.

"Can I have my headphones back?" He asks, as if some time has actually passed.

"No," I say without really looking up. He shouldn't have been messing around in the first place.

Somewhat unexpectedly, his volume raises from one to one hundred and he launches into a tirade about how I write out referrals for gum chewing, pen chewing (not true, but it made me chuckle), and every other little thing that he feels is acceptable for a student to do in class. He tells me how terrible I am, how I'm unfair, and mean, and rude, and unreasonable.

And then he screams. Literally. Screams.

"GIVE ME BACK MY HEADPHONES NOW!"

I just sit there, stunned at my desk, and shrug. "Sorry," I reply timidly as his friend has to drag him from the classroom before things really get out of hand. I'm glad for it, because at least he's out of my room. I'm oddly not afraid of any of these emotional kids, and it's not that Mr. Temper Tantrum is a big kid, but he'd probably be pretty scrappy in a fight. He'd almost certainly fight dirty.

Once he is gone, all of the students who have been waiting for class to begin are looking at me. I think that they must be waiting for me to burst into tears.

"Are you okay?" One asks, looking at me like I'm some injured animal.

"He wouldn't have been able to hit you," another one says, "I would stopped him before he could try."

"I'm fine," I say, because, really, this sort of thing isn't even that surprising anymore ... As sad as it is, I almost expect it (and this kid is a repeat offender).

With hours having passed between that incident and now, I'm still not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I'm extremely angry that a student could treat me this way, pretty much without consequence (at least for the weekend because the referral hasn't made it's way to the Principal yet). On the other, the educator in me realizes that Mr. Temper Tantrum's crazed reaction wasn't necessarily directed at me, but rather the culmination of a host of other events that had been weighing him down ... Any psychology or conflict management class will tell you that the confiscation of his headphones was just icing on the woe cake that had been baking all day long.

Even so, this is not how I imagined teaching to be.

What happened to the kids that love to learn? What happened to honors science classes? What happened to expelling a kid after he/she has broken the rules one too many times? What happened to just turning homework in on time?

It's almost enough to make me have a hissy fit.