But I know the message would be lost. We're sending these kids schizoid messages because we're divided about what we want them to be. We set up a regimen. We fashion crude mechanisms to separate the bright from the ordinary. And their futures can hang on this chaotic maze of mixed messages.
Some kids navigate the maze with ease.
And for some bright kids, every wall in the maze is an opportunity for disorientation. Every adult who copes with their job by lumping kids into stereotypes is an opportunity for alienation. And when a person feels alienated, they turn in a direction where the alienated feel at home. You can see them around the corner from school, leaving early, lighting their joints, hanging out, going nowhere. For an hour the teacher concedes nothing except that the grade could come up if forms are filled out for credit in ballet and skiing.