I have stopped buying tissue and picking up pencils. It took me awhile to get the message. I used to buy boxes of tissue and bring them to class for the children with runny noses. I used to pick of pencils I saw on the ground, usually brand new, and keep them in class to give to students who did not have one.
No longer.
I finally realized that I was just enabling the students to be irresponsible and teaching them bad habits. I was reinforcing their selfish, wasteful behavior. The children of today are so self centered and so ill-trained that they take advantage of everything you do for them.
I noticed that the tissue was disappearing very quickly. As I watched it became clear why. When they were using it to blow their nose, they needed three or four tissues for one little snort. I have a very big nose and can make do with one. Then I noticed they were using my tissue as a towel. They would run around on hot days and then come in and take several handfuls of tissue to wipe the sweat from their brow. Then they wonder why there is no tissue.
Pencils also became an issue. When I would give them almost new pencils they played a game which, strangely enough, they called “Pencils.” It involved two students with new pencils. One would hold the ends in a horizontal direction while the other would flick it with his pencil to try and break it. They would take turns and the winner still had a pencil. Of course with all the violence the lead inside was shattered so it would not sharpen, but they could always get another one from the teacher, right? Wrong.
I also noticed that they rarely returned the pencil they “borrowed.” They would either walk out with it or leave it laying on the ground.
So I don’t supply tissue or pencils in a direct way. When I am sick I will bring a box of tissue and share it until it is gone. I keep it hidden in my desk and dole them out one at a time. For pencils I have a “magic cup” on my desk. If it has a pencil in it, they can have it. I don’t pick up pencils they leave on the floor any more. What I do is kick them into corners where they are safe from the janitors. Then I take the student on a hunt for a pencil.
Maybe they will learn to be dependent on themselves instead of parasites on society. Then again, maybe they won’t.
homo unius libri
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