Clueless

I think it is safe to say that whatever kids were doing in college in our day, they are doing in high school today. And whatever kids were doing in high school, they are doing in middle school today. A kid came into the guidance office today because his two friends had gotten into a fight. Apparently, the fight stemmed from what occurred at a sleepover this past weekend. As soon as the kid mentioned the word sleepover, I knew I was in for a real treat.

The boys had a contest on who could stay up the longest. The loser would be subjected to having someone's balls put on him. This led to lots of scrotums (or is it, scroti?) being placed on people and someone feeling uncomfortable with the homoerotic activity. When my supervisor heard about the prank, she erroneously believed that "balls" was a euphemism or slang for something else. Oh no, this kid meant testicles, and I knew it. I found it humorous that my supervisor and the rest of the guidance staff could not fathom middle schoolers doing this. I remember thinking that this was probable in high school and a definite in college. I guess I'm not that innocent. One of the counselors came in and said that she wasn't surprised. She thought some of our kids had talked about rainbow parties. My supervisor and the rest had no clue what rainbow parties were. That's when I realized that there is a real generation gap when it comes to sexual knowledge. People of a certain age don't think that kids are doing these things, but they are. I think we are doing these kids a huge disservice when adminstrators and mental health staff members focus on the act being inappropriate and not on the fact that it is happening. School pyschologists and counselors have to know the lingo and the activities of children and youth. It was astounding to see how clueless the mental health staff was in my school. They are just now getting around to using the internet. But there is still so much that they need to learn. No wonder kids get away with so much. People really have to stop being shocked and start taking action.