Today one of the teachers on our team confiscated a notebook that two girls were using to write notes to each other. Apparently they would write about a page and then give it to the other to write back. Nothing new there, kids have always passed notes. It was when we started reading it that I realized how different many of these kids are than I was.
The two girls who are writing back and forth to each other are experiencing things they are way too young for. These girls are 12 or 13 years old. They talk about smoking pot and cigarettes. They talk about going to parties. They talk about boys and sex. The girls made a 'pact' to not have sex this year. It wasn't actually stated whether they had had sex before or not. One girl stated that she was going to a 'hotel party' with her cousin over the weekend. Hotel party!?! She was there with another boy from school, who she apparently let make out with her in a stairwell, and who was also pressuring her to have sex. She went to another party the next day. I couldn't believe the way these girls were talking. This was everyday stuff to them.
The teachers weren't really surprised at the stuff in the notebook. They see this stuff a lot. Both girls parents will be called in for a conference and shown the notebook. Once the parents have been told, it is really out of the teacher's hands. The girls weren't disrupting class, so there will be no punishment from the school.
Of course all of the kids are not doing the same stuff. But, judging by the teachers comments and reactions, it is not that rare either. But, very surprising to me.
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