Mercy and Justice

This time of the year is complicated and emotional.  This is the reason so many people do not want to teach seniors.  I vividly remember a conversation with a veteran teacher about how much I liked teaching them.

"Nope.  Too much end-of-the-year drama," she said.  She preferred juniors, in her words still mature but with none of the drama that comes with these individuals on the cusp of leaving the sheltered environment they've been in for 12 (in some cases longer, if you count kindergarten, etc.) years.

It's true, there are moments that are tear-jerking.  And, occasionally, if one is honest, there are also moments that are infuriating.  Sometimes it becomes the last lesson I am able to impart.  So often, a decision has to be made between mercy and justice.

It's a hard thing to choose.  Which is better?  As a teacher, I am inclined toward mercy.  I think most of us are. We want to see our students successful.  We want them to be happy and complete.  The truth of it is, though, that life does not work that way all the time.  There is not a "do-over" hiding around every corner.  Everything we do shapes us for better or ill, chipping away to form the sculpture or the wreck we'll become.  Our choices are freighted with consequences, and at some point we have to learn that if we are ever going to succeed.

Every year I debate which the better tool for shaping might be. Do I do any good when I allow a second chance, or am I simply continuing a trend that has allowed the situation to develop in the first place?  Is it time for a harsh lesson that might hurt now but might save pain down the road?   I suppose it goes on a case-by-case basis.  It's not the best part of what I do by a long shot, but it here it is.  I only hope I can be wise enough to do the right thing.

Every teacher faces these decisions on a daily basis, of course.  It just seems that never are they so poignant as now.  Even though I know that where the student ultimately winds up really has very little to do with me and is based on decisions he or she has made for at least the time they are with me, this is still a difficult time.