INSERT FOOT HERE ---------> MOUTH

You know the old saying about sticking your foot in your mouth...well put me down for one. My last post is definitely turn in most cases, BUT after school on Thursday and Friday, I would like to go back and make a few adjustments and add a few facts about children and education here in Belize.

First, yes the children here do enjoy learning about their history and supporting their country, but they are still teenagers, and believe me, they sure do act like it. These students get a two week break for Easter and the last days of school were, well, hellacious. Classroom management and anger management are normally not a big problem for me; or should I say, WERE not a big problem for me. By the end of the day on Friday I could have cried I was so frustrated with the Form 1 students and their unruly behavior. I had to keep telling myself that this was a learning process for me and that at the end of the day I would still be alive so just push through doing the best I could to control the class. Good thing one of the teachers was willing to help me out and stand behind me during the execution of my lesson plan.

Second, that same teacher that helped me with classroom management also sat me down and taught me a few things about Belizean students and the value of education in their society. He told me that out of all the Form 1 students in the school, only 40% will graduate from Form 4 in four years. That is a total of 60% of the students dropping out of school! He also made a few comments on the lack of value on education from the families in San Pedro Town. His comment was, “Most of the parents send their children to school to get them out of their hair for the day. They bring their students for us to deal with, giving us the headache everyday of dealing with students who do not want to be here.” This is coming from a veteran teacher here in San Pedro…scary thought that sounds all too familiar with a few schools I know of in the states.

Thirdly I just wanted to share with everyone that my roommate Tess and I are doing our video project on the children selling necklaces on the streets for their families. I mentioned in my last blog about children working for their families until late at night on the streets…well this interested Tess and I and we want to know more about these children’s lives, how they feel about their role in their family, and most importantly, how they feel about working on these dangerous streets until late at night. We got a chance Saturday night to talk to a few children and we plan on working with this small group of kids for the duration of our project! I’ll keep you guys posted on how all this is going! Wish us luck!