Unhappy Holidays and Dance Dance Revolution

The last week before the break I told all my students that they needed to hold it together and take care of all their shit before the break. Unfortunately, I had students melting down left and right. I finally realized what it was.

The holidays can be a rough time for a lot of people. If you don't have a good family life or a lot of money then the holidays can be a depressing time. During the break, people are supposed to get together with their families and give and get presents. The holidays are the time of conspicuous American consumption. Lots of businesses really rely on the holidays to keep their businesses going. If you are living at a group home like a number of students then you aren't hanging out with your family. You also won't be getting a lot of presents. If your family is filled with jerks and/or drug addicts then you won't be getting a lot of presents. If you see everyone around you getting stuff and showing off their new presents, it's a stark reminder of what you don't have. Sometimes, students and people aren't consciously aware of the depression brought on the holidays and they just act out.

When school got out on Friday, we had a lot of students just hanging out around the school. When I was in high school and there was a break the last place I wanted to be was at the school. Like many of my students, sometimes I started the break early on Thursday and skipped Friday. But the students' desire to stay just shows how much the students need and like my school.

Friday before break was a minimum day so I busted out the Dance Dance Revolution to play with kids. I cannot tell you the response that Dance Dance Revolution has among the students. At one point I must have had 50 some odd students in my class watching kids do Dance Dance Revolution. There is this one student that we have who is completely socially awkward and somewhat mentally unstable. The best thing for this kid is a safe place and proper socialization. He got on the Dance Dance Revolution and when he was done the entire classroom erupted in cheers for him. Knowing this kid's history I'm sure that this was the first time he'd ever had a group of people cheering for him. It was an incredible experience to be a part of.