shoot out

Man, oh man. It's almost over.

On Friday, there was a dance/pizza party for the 7th grade students in the gym during the last hour of the day to congratulate them for their excellent test scores. They out-scored both the 6th and the 8th graders.

I gotta say that I feel really OLD attending their dances. It may sound cliche, but times have changed. Popular music lyrics were probably just as bad when I was a middle schooler (back then it was called junior high), but at least the music seemed more melodic. I remember that I loved all of Madonna's music, especially "Like a Virgin." I also knew all the words to George Michael's song "I want your sex." All of that coming from an innocent middle schooler who hadn't even had her first French kiss. Popular music among the diverse student body at our school is mostly rap or R&B. The two most popular songs among the students at our school are "Shoot out" and "Soulja boy - Tell em Crank that". To me, it just sounds like a bunch of noise, but the kids go wild when they hear those songs.

I don't remember hearing "Shoot out" at the last school dance, but it left a lasting impression on me this time. When the song played, the students ran together, forming a sea of young jirating bodies all shaking their booties (more on booties) and jumping while holding up one hand in the air in the form of an imaginary pistol. Yep, pretty violent stuff. During the dance one of the teachers caught a student throwing gang signs and called him aside. For being an overcrowded, diverse school, supposedly we've had a very low record of fights (or so the administration tells us), but to me our school, like most schools I'm sure, is a very violent place. All sorts of bullying goes on daily, both physical and verbal. The students are very cruel to each other. They put each other down constantly, fling tweeties at each other, vandalize the school, destroy or steal each other's property, and steal and destroy mine too. The teachers are constantly threatening them (me included, which I hate). In my mind, it's not a place that's conducive to learning or the enjoyment of life. Middle School, indeed, is hell.