Advice · Real Men Real Style Community

Advice

My apologies for talking about something so serious, but well . . .People sometimes ask me what advice I would give future teachers, and it is this. If you do your job correctly, you will have trouble functioning some nights because of stuff the students tell you about their own life. The students deserve that support, and someone they can reach out to, but all future teachers must prepare. I have my students do personal narratives, and today a student wrote a 7.5 page paper that detailed, among other things, numerous instances of sexual assault. It fills me with such rage and grief, I have trouble processing it. What worsens matters is I have received many such narratives since I started doing this assignment two years ago. If you want to know why I devote my Sundays to cooking for students, this is part of why. I want to be able to provide some light in what is often a dark tunnel for my students. And to all the men and young men out there, never forget what it means to be a real man. Protect the innocent, give them a shoulder to cry on, and give them a space where they are safe and valued.

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