That's what Pennsylvanie high school teacher Natalie Munroe wrote about her students on an internet blog she kept for family and friends.
But it got even worse.
She went on to to write that "[They] are out of control...They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."
Amazingly, it went on to get worse, still.
She listed some comments that she'd love to put on her student's report cards. These included: "I hear the trash company is hiring"; "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son"; and "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?"
She has since been suspended from her teaching duties. I shared a news article about this situation with the kids this morning. They were, as you would expect, shocked and a bit outraged.
"Maybe the kids are bored because of her," Jillian suggested. "You have to be interesting."
This, by the way, is very true.
"You can't talk about kids that way," argued Brandon.
"Yeah," said Patton. "That's really insulting."
"High schoolers are sometimes...well, they don't listen," suggested Atira. "She looks interesting and fun in the picture but they're all talking. She has the right to share this but not be all insulting."
"Yeah," said Skyler. "She could have not said it in a bad way."
"I don't know," I said. "Do you think sharing this helped to solve a problem or just make it worse?"
Skyler later asked a great question, "Why would she even teach them and then insult them?"
"We were discussing that too," said Jenna. "Why is she even a teacher if she feels like that?"
We have used this and other current news articles this year to see many examples of how people choose to deal with problems and concerns. We've talked a good bit about the fact that having the power to make choices comes with a great deal of responsibility. Along the way we've seen letters to the editor, countries asking for help from others, people picketing, and others acting out in violence. There's a lot to be found in the news.
The saddest part of this whole story was that many people support Natalie Munroe for what she has done on her blog. They argue that it's about time someone call these students out. They are certain that a tough love approach is just what the kids need. Even if it means calling them "disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy lazy, LOAFERS" and then walking back into class and acting as though she had the kids' best interest at heart.
We also talked about the 1,000+ votes that were not counted in the election last November, a possible ban on texting while driving, and the quickly approaching start of the college baseball season. If you see any really great stories in the news be sure to share them with your kids. Better yet, send your kids in ready to share them with us all.
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