More crap at work

Well, the other day a couple of kids were "play" fighting in the bathroom, resulting in a double suspension, as it should be. Let's not dwell on another similar incident that was swept under the rug because one of the boys was the principal-in-training's nephew. Anyhow, the edict came down that from now on all four classes (110+ students) need to take their bathroom breaks simultaneously, and a male teacher needs to be in the boys' room, and a female teacher in the girls' room. Guess what - I am the only male teacher - so I get to spend 15 minutes twice a day, EVERY DAY telling kids to not goof around, get moving.

This sucks, but more so since today a young 'angel' decided it would be funny to play basketball with a wet paper towel, and threw it at my back. Hilarity did not ensue, and I got a little hot. Eventually I uttered the phrase "get back in line you disrespectful punk" which incited a teacher on my team. She proceeded to dress me down for getting childish, then proceeded to take the matter up in the hall with the principal. End result, I feel let down by my teammate's handling of this (a teammate, by the way, who can't be bothered to go downstairs to escort students from the cafeteria, something I do EVERY DAY, but she certainly can go downstairs to drive to get her lunch, and even sometimes get back before the students get to her room from their lunch), plus I got to spend a majority of my planning period sitting before all four administrators.

The reality of the situation is this: I am white and male. I can't discipline students in the same way as a black teacher, or even a female teacher, due to student and parent perceptions. This severely limits my ability to maintain order. What makes it worse is a lack of support from those around me, and the students' willingness to abuse this "privilege" by actively mocking my requests for proper behavior.

It is getting to the point where I just don't care, and will just stand by as chaos comes to a head. At which point people (meaning this teacher who bitched me out) will question why I didn't try to maintain order.

no win