The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - When You Are Oppressed, Or Ten Weighty Reasons for Teenagers and Their Parents

Mithalwen · 09-09-2004, 11:53 AM

I too have a natural allergy to Dickens but I forced myself to read 50 pages of "Our Mutual Friend" each morning when I woke, and another fifty before I slept in order to complete it for the start of Upper Sixth. I called it my penance and never read another Dickens until I had to do Bleak House for my degree. the best I can say of him is that having slogged through the first 700 pages, the last 200 were relatively diverting. Irritatingly I seem not to be able to escape him. I was given the complete works which are (apart fromBH) unread and take up an obscene amount of precious shelf space. I lived around the corner form his birthplace for a while and later across the bay from Bleak House. I left town at festival time.

Since we are getting bizarrely competitive about teaching careers

I will take the gloves off.

At my interview I was told that the person I was replacing had gone off sick. On my first day, I found out she had had her face smashed in by a 12 year old pupil.
I should have walked then and there but I stuck it out. I was sworn at, assaulted and sexually harrassed. My property was stolen. My desk and door handle were covered with spit and other bodily substances. My office door was kicked in. Someone tried to set fire to my hair. This is in addition to the usual living hell of the class room and still trying to do your best for extremely damaged children. Oh yes, I was also stitched up by the management as a scapegoat for the school inspectors.

So unless you started crying at 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon because there was school again the next day, seriously considered slashing your wrists as a preferable alternative and are still not entirely free of the repercussions seven years later, then no your experiences were probably not worse

BTW Apart from having limited time ot cover such a long book, cost might also be a factor in not teaching LOTR. Full price each volume is six or seven pounds and at least double that for the one volume version. That will make a big dent in a dsepartmental budget when you can get older "classics" for a fraction of that .

09-09-2004, 11:53 AM	#63
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,461	I too have a natural allergy to Dickens but I forced myself to read 50 pages of "Our Mutual Friend" each morning when I woke, and another fifty before I slept in order to complete it for the start of Upper Sixth. I called it my penance and never read another Dickens until I had to do Bleak House for my degree. the best I can say of him is that having slogged through the first 700 pages, the last 200 were relatively diverting. Irritatingly I seem not to be able to escape him. I was given the complete works which are (apart fromBH) unread and take up an obscene amount of precious shelf space. I lived around the corner form his birthplace for a while and later across the bay from Bleak House. I left town at festival time. Since we are getting bizarrely competitive about teaching careers I will take the gloves off. At my interview I was told that the person I was replacing had gone off sick. On my first day, I found out she had had her face smashed in by a 12 year old pupil. I should have walked then and there but I stuck it out. I was sworn at, assaulted and sexually harrassed. My property was stolen. My desk and door handle were covered with spit and other bodily substances. My office door was kicked in. Someone tried to set fire to my hair. This is in addition to the usual living hell of the class room and still trying to do your best for extremely damaged children. Oh yes, I was also stitched up by the management as a scapegoat for the school inspectors. So unless you started crying at 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon because there was school again the next day, seriously considered slashing your wrists as a preferable alternative and are still not entirely free of the repercussions seven years later, then no your experiences were probably not worse BTW Apart from having limited time ot cover such a long book, cost might also be a factor in not teaching LOTR. Full price each volume is six or seven pounds and at least double that for the one volume version. That will make a big dent in a dsepartmental budget when you can get older "classics" for a fraction of that . __________________ “But Finrod walks with Finarfin his father beneath the trees in Eldamar.” Christopher Tolkien, Requiescat in pace Last edited by Mithalwen; 09-09-2004 at 12:32 PM. Reason: Grammar etc......