I HATE middle school kids!

Just a little rant.

I'm an English as a Second Language teacher, and this evening I was leading my 8th graders in playing "Family Feud." They were trying to guess the top 5 answers for "Name an animal that weighs over 1000 lbs." 

...now, being a little heavy, working with immature 8th graders, I should have thought about where this was going to go ahead of time... but I didn't. So, the little bastard's answer, of course, was: "YOU!!!" and the whole class rolled on the floor.

Hahaha, so frickin' funny. ...and it's not like I can defend myself  by saying "I know I look good! I've lost 50 lbs, so screw you little kids!" I tried to ignore him at first, except the whole class was gasping for air because they were laughing so hard, and all I could come up with was "You're such a rude little brat!" which didn't really help, because they don't know what a "brat" is.

I hate middle school kids. 

Original Post by coffincritter:



Also as ellajayne pointed out, there are different approaches. There's a difference between saying encouraging things about going to the gym and pointing at a picture of an elephant. First you said it's that Koreans are blunt about weight, now you're saying it's middle school kids anywhere. And while yes it's true that an American middle schooler might also do that, I know that in the past at least, they would have been reprimanded for it. These days with everything revolving around kids so-called "self-esteem", I'm not so sure.

Never did I say this was solely a South Korean issue. I said in Korea, it's acceptable for people to comment on other peoples' weight. However, middle schoolers in the US are ****, too. These are two separate statements. I thought you would understand that from the previous post. They don't contradict each other. 

Original Post by alibsam:

Original Post by coffincritter:



Also as ellajayne pointed out, there are different approaches. There's a difference between saying encouraging things about going to the gym and pointing at a picture of an elephant. First you said it's that Koreans are blunt about weight, now you're saying it's middle school kids anywhere. And while yes it's true that an American middle schooler might also do that, I know that in the past at least, they would have been reprimanded for it. These days with everything revolving around kids so-called "self-esteem", I'm not so sure.

Never did I say this was solely a South Korean issue. I said in Korea, it's acceptable for people to comment on other peoples' weight. However, middle schoolers in the US are ****, too. These are two separate statements. I thought you would understand that from the previous post. They don't contradict each other. 

You honestly don't see how it came across as if the whole incident shouldn't matter because of a that's-just-how-they-do-things-over-here sort of attitude?

CoffinCritter

Not to be insensitive but I agree with alibsam.  Lecturing a kid is not going to change a culture.  It is an ingrained part, it's accepted, it's not going to go through to one kid.  I think what she is also saying is not to take it too personally, that weight is veiwed differently.  Not some big bad sensitive secret.  It's something to fix. 

Plus it sounds like it's just turning into an argument of semantics.

My bf mom is Korean, and she is constantly saying things about her weight.  She's not being mean or unloving- she just sees the whole concept of weight differently.

Lorik, I had no idea teachers were the adopted parents of all their students.  I get your point, but it is really naive.

Original Post by coffincritter:

 

You honestly don't see how it came across as if the whole incident shouldn't matter because of a that's-just-how-they-do-things-over-here sort of attitude?

You honestly can't acknowledge that things are different in other countries? 

I didn't say the incident shouldn't matter. I said she shouldn't take it so personally. Seeing as she has been in Korea around the same amount of time I have, this weight topic shouldn't be new. 

Original Post by alibsam:

Original Post by coffincritter:

 

You honestly don't see how it came across as if the whole incident shouldn't matter because of a that's-just-how-they-do-things-over-here sort of attitude?

You honestly can't acknowledge that things are different in other countries? 

I didn't say the incident shouldn't matter. I said she shouldn't take it so personally. Seeing as she has been in Korea around the same amount of time I have, this weight topic shouldn't be new. 

I acknowledge that things are different in other countries all right, what I'm questioning is whether that makes them OK or immune from criticism. And I find it telling that another poster mentioned that the Asian girl students at her school would not eat for days if they weren't supervised at meals.

However you think the OP should react to it, the bottom line is she was hurt by the statement, enough to write about it here for support. Our bodies are a part of our person during our lifetime, at least, so I don't see why a remark about one's body isn't any less personal than a remark about one's intelligence, personality, etc.