SG - I teach 11th grade AP English at the #2 ranked public high school in San Bernardino County (the largest country in the lower 48). On one hand, the students are under enormous pressure, made even worse by the economy which is making college admission, and even securing classes once admitted incredibly difficult. By the same token, this is my 10th year as a secondary public school teacher; every year, the character/morals of the kids seems different. It's completely inconsistent. Some years, the kids are finding ways to legitimately complete inhuman amounts of work and activities, and then the next year, they are all copying their The Scarlet Letter essay from the same PH.D. candidate's blog. When it's your kid, and you're watching them work themselves to death, I can only imagine what that feels like. It's not very comforting in the moment, but you need to do everything you can to let your daughter know that her hard work will pay off. Even being an educator in southern California, I understand the admission process for NYC public high school system, and I have read about "Stuy"; your daughters achievements are already amazing. Please keep us posted of her progress.
BD - Having small children of my own, it's the idea of their molestation/kidnapping/murders that taps me into the mindset of taking horrible, American Psycho-like revenge on their attackers. I'm glad that very little in this life takes me to that place mentally, but the thought of someone damaging them with finality certainly does.
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