I’m probably a little late to this dance, but I just heard that a teacher is suing her school system because she’s afraid of the children.
Let that sink in for a minute….
Here’s the New York Times article, but I’ll give you a little blurb:
A former teacher is suing the Cincinnati school district, saying she was discriminated against because of her rare phobia: a fear of young children.
You know what? I’m afraid of heights. One of my kids is afraid of spiders. I don’t work as a window washer. My kid isn’t an exterminator. Know what I mean?
Who becomes a teacher with a fear of children? C’mon! Enough already. Grow up and admit you don’t like middle schoolers (and really, who does when they are in a pack?). Own up to the fact that at age 60, you don’t want to deal with thirteen year olds after a comfortable career with older kids, and you wish to retire because you don’t want to do your job anymore. Nobody is going to judge. Much.
Meanwhile, can I get workman’s comp for excessive exposure to comma splices and pronoun antecedent agreement errors?
another cup of coffee 
I hope she gets fined for a frivolous lawsuit.
When I was teaching in a middle school, one of my colleagues told me that she had resisted when asked to teach 5th-graders. “Are they old enough to go to the bathroom by themselves?” (She wound up teaching 5th-graders anyway and really enjoyed it.)
She has a job; she has to teach the grade level assigned to her. If she’s had enough, then it’s time to move on.
Unbelievable. I accompany you in your rant.
Ari