"Teaching in the 21st Century" by Sam Campbell

Teaching in the 21st Century

A kid I didn’t know committed suicide last night,

shot himself in the head on Asheville Highway.

Things like that, things that don’t happen

in our small town, they happen now. They happen.

We went into lockdown last week, huddled

in a dark corner, teenage girls giggling

because they’ve never been in the dark

next to a boy before. Things like disgruntled

parents waving guns outside schools. They happen.

Evacuated to the football field last month

because someone read on social media

that there was a bomb. An hour and a half

of instructional time wasted. Things like sad,

ignored kids posting threats online. They happen.

A girl cried on my shoulder because her boyfriend

hit her. A boy asked me how to get the girl.

One restraining order, a new seating arrangement,

and a group project later, girl + boy fall in love.

Things like that, good things, they still happen.