A comment on society today...

My friend Jesse commented on Saturday how he likes hearing stories about my high school kids, and I had two lovely ones today.

Conversation I overheard during passing period:

Girl: We both decided we just don't feel a love connection.
Boy: Really?
Girl: Yes, we talked about it last night and that love connection is just not there for us. But now he's not here today.."
Boy: Where is he?
Girl: He's sick today. He texted me this morning though and said I can't leave. And I totally didn't understand what he meant, and then he texted me back and said I can't leave you.
Boy: He said that?
Girl: Yes. But now I have to drop my best friend if I'm going to stay with him. I haven't talked to her all day.

Seriously? These 15-year-old kids don't feel a love connection ? And what 15-year-old boy is going to say "I can't leave you" in a text? This is from the girl who twice now has told me she is going to move tomorrow, only to be there the next day. This is also from the girl who told me she was flying to the Bahamas for a funeral, for only one night. The boy (who was at home sick) I actually liked, until I found out he was dating her.

Then a few minutes later, we were beginning a story on the Vietnam War. I asked (using my proper anticipatory set teaching techniques) what anyone knew about the Vietnam War. One student raised his hand and said,

"Well, the Vietnam War started because North Korea--wait, no, South Korea, wanted independence. It was a stupid war that we basically lost, but should have won, because North Korea ended up still being communist."

Yep. The Vietnam War was between the United States and South Korea, we lost, and North Korea is still communist. History classes are going very well.

The next class comes in, and I ask the same question. One kid just blurts out,

"That one guy was captured and was a POW for years. There were traps to get people, and lots and lots and lots of people died."

I asked him who "that one guy" was, and he said,

"You know, that guy John McCain. He was a POW for years and we lost the Vietnam war because so many people died."

Okay, my knowledge on the subject of the Vietnam War is not the clearest. But seriously, I think I could answer the question better than those two responses.

Hopefully these four students are not a comment on society today...