Why I Chose To Teach

I don't love kids. I don't love teenagers. I don't want to spend all my time around them, but I do want them to be able to think. Let me clarify: I don't hate kids. Sometimes they're more entertaining than adults, which brings me to my next point: I really don't like adults. Some of my students have asked me, "Mister, why do you want to teach?" I respond, "Because I hate adults." This isn't a complete answer, and I always explain to any student that asks me that question that I don't actually hate all adults, but I am not fond of the average adult. The average, uneducated, simple, materialistic, non-thinking adult that constitutes the majority of our population.

The average adult in America and probably in most developed countries around the world does not think. The average adult doesn't see a need to think. The average adult lives his/her life according to what society tells him/her to do. Now I don't necessarily mean to be above average you have to be a conspiracy theorist or an anti-government, anti-establishment nut, I simply mean I believe that people should not be so ignorant to the world around them and at least try to continue their learning after school ends. They should question what they hear and do their own research. Fox "News" recently said global warming is officially over (the very existence of which they spent years denying). Millions will believe that even as meteorologists inform us that we have yet again set a heat record. (Yes, I know, meteorologists aren't always the most reliable people, but the thermometer doesn't lie). 

This will all make me sound pretentious and holier-than-thou, but that is of no concern at this point. In our modern world of information, you have to actually try to be ignorant. It has been said that the highest form of ignorance is disregarding something you knew nothing about. I see this all the time. Example:

'Wal-Mart is an evil company.'
 'But you can get things so cheap there.'
'Yes, but there are some pretty nasty reasons and realities as to why that is.'
 'Hmm, well other companies are probably bad too. What can you do?'
'No, other companies aren't as bad. There is tons of information about the things Wal-Mart has done. You should look it up, or I'll help you find some.'
'Eh, but it's so convenient, I don't want to find another place to go.'
[and so on...]

The average person is so dumb that he doesn't realize how dumb he is, which in turn makes him think he's smart. In other words, he knows so little he doesn't realize how little he knows. Have you ever noticed how dumb people are always the most confident? Terrifying.

Perhaps this way of thinking started in college when I refused to watch TV so it wouldn't interfere with my music, but to this day I can't really watch TV. I hate commercials, I hate almost every dumb show on TV, and most of all I hate how most people are fine with it all. The Voice? American Idol? The Bachelor? Are you kidding me? How sad are your lives that you have nothing better to do than marinate on your couch for hours on end watching other people's fake/scripted lives? Also, we live in a society where people are obsessed with something that doesn't actually matter: sports. I mean, sports are entertaining to a degree, but the extent to which they are followed and glorified is sickening. 85,000 people go see the Broncos every Sunday, meanwhile the Colorado Symphony can barely fill their concert hall. I could go on...

Back to why I teach: I teach because I realize that we live in an incredibly privileged society where each successive generation has to work less hard than its predecessor. My generation and the ones after are raised with incredibly easy lives, and it's hurting our society, country, and earth. Trust me, I teach kids who refuse to walk across the room to grab a book because "it's too far away." We live in a country where astronomical amounts of money are wasted each day on meaningless things, or on health care costs for preventable ailments, such as obesity. A virtually endless supply of money is available for war, and yet there is never enough for education.

I teach because maybe at least a few of my students will one day be smart enough to research the food they're eating to see if it's good for them, or maybe they'll learn from the mistakes of history (even their family's history) and not repeat them. Or perhaps they'll learn to think enough to realize that they don't need to impress no one in particular by blowing through their paychecks. (By "no one in particular" I'm referring to the act of people consciously trying to impress others for no real reason).

Okay, I know all of that was pretty negative. It is, however, reality. There are more positive reasons why I teach. I believe in intellectualism. I believe in using your brain since it's there anyways. I believe that education almost invariably leads to more tolerance, acceptance, and ultimately, peace. One day some of these kids will think back to their teachers who told them that they can't fill out a job application the same way they text their friends. Or some of them will realize that going to college will probably lead them down a better path than joining a gang. I believe in lots of these noble-sounding reasons, but primarily I think the way societies are as a whole ultimately stems from education. Not to demonize the poor, but think of their average education levels compared to middle or upper class citizens. In some cases poverty is not a person's fault, but it could be the fault of that person's parents, grandparents, or great grandparents. Of course, in some areas of the world class structures still exist, and for the most part people stay in the class they're born into. So, again, low-income people as a group are not at fault. In developed nations, however, people have more control over their choices, so individuals can change the course their life may be headed based on their family situation, their past, their previous choices, etc. Consider this example, based on what I see as a teacher:

Young girl gets pregnant during high school, drops out, gets low-paying job, has baby on her own, works many hours at low-paying job to earn enough money to support baby, baby/child grows up without a steady home life, child influenced by negative influences, child lacks support from family, child doesn't value opportunity for education because the child knows nothing of its benefits, child acts out in school, child finds comfort in male that may be filling in the gap left by her absent father, child gets pregnant...

This is the cycle, caused and perpetuated by a lack of education. Again, I realize this post is a bit negative, but it is reality! I will close by saying that for me, education has always been a driving force in my life, and I would be a completely different (and possibly worse) person had it not been for the educational opportunities I've had. Yes, I know, I'm a college-educated know-it-all. And yet I might be the first one to admit I don't know it all.