I just had a long visit with a high school teacher who doubles in physical education and some basic sciences classes. I recall his type from when I was in school. Earnest, rough, true blue, cares about the kids, does his job, and so on.
During lockdowns, like many teachers, he started a side gig. He buys and sells mattresses, of all things, and he is doing well for himself just in his off-hours. He has no debt, no employees, and very low real estate costs. To trade with him requires an appointment but it’s worth it because his prices are far lower than the retail outlets. And he is able to keep up with his teaching position at the same time.
Sensing a kindred soul (his shirt said “freedom”) I gradually stepped into forbidden territory. I asked him how the students are faring given the lockdowns and some two years of fake education. Wow, I hit a nerve. He explained how lockdowns were a complete disaster for the kids’ health. It’s not possible to be a phys-ed coach on Zoom. He ended up just telling the kids to run around the block and report back in on how it went.
In other words, the whole thing was a joke and everyone knew it. He saw the kids getting ever more cynical about the entire enterprise, not just his fake classes but everyone’s classes. All of his fellow teachers were busying themselves with other projects, selling things, starting businesses, remodeling homes, taking trips, whatever. The kids meanwhile learned quickly that they could game the system and essentially do nothing at all.
Then it all became a mutual grift. The teachers were glad for a break while getting paid and the students found out that attending school was optional. They lost all sense of meaning and purpose. It has not come back. They lack direction. They don’t take the “adult world” seriously. They have come to believe that everything is a fake, all systems are scams, nothing is real, and everyone is part of the same hypocrisy.
Not even grades mattered much.
