I wish teachers would not make alcoholics and drug addicts seem like aliens from another planet, and would tell their students how common it is in the '90s for people to be addicted to a substance, how much support is now available to them to get sober, and how many people turn their lives around when they get the help they need. That way, a student living with an alcoholic parent or guardian wouldn't have to be ashamed to ask questions about it. Feeling safe takes time. I wish more teachers would give students a chance to express their feelings after seeing a video about violence or some other heavy health topic. They could do this by writing in a journal, or sharing with a classmate, or drawing a poster for younger children that helps explain the topic to them.
Young people are creative and have lots of energy, passion, and good ideas.
We ought to challenge that impulse more often. Then the class could spend more time on a few skills that might actually sink in. I wish they'd design classes that give students time to think, reflect, and sort through some of the complexity they face in their lives right now. And that kind of learning takes time. Kids are being bombarded right and left by forces they cannot easily understand.