A lot of the kids at Koho annoy me, some very much so, but there is only one (to date) that I actually do not like, and am angry at all of the time. This kid is a fucker. He is a bully, and a jackass, and is all around trouble. He is also stupid (believe me, i know this, I teach him twice a week), and we all know that stupid trouble is the worst kind of trouble.

I maintain that I didn't like this kid as soon as I set eyes on him. Does this make me judgemental? Maybe. Probably, actually, but I'm a pretty good judge of character, and in this case I was correct.

The kid stared me down in class a few weeks ago, but at the time I wasn't sure whether or not he was vacantly staring at me, much like a cow might stare at the hydraulic punch that is about to go through its forehead before it is butchered, or if there was actually animosity behind it. I can't tell with his watery eyes. It was probably a bit of both though, because we don't like each other, and we both know it. That same day he popped off at my co-teacher. He has yet to pop off at me. I eagerly await the day.

Yesterday on the train I saw him ruthlessley bullying a fellow student and baseball teammate while six or seven other teammates watched and laughed. He was slapping him in the face. Whenever the poor kid tried to put his hands up, this jackass said to be strong, and pushed his hands down. You see, this bastard is the vice-captain of the team (god knows why), and also a starting pitcher. The poor kid (who sits the bench) put up with it, and tried to maintain his dignity and feebly smile (no doubt because he wanted to be a part of this fuckers entourage), but when I asked him afterwards if he was ok, he looked close to tears and said "no."

What did I do while this shameful display of alpha male bullshit was going on? Did I sit idly by? Well, no. I went up to them and asked repeatedly what they were doing. I knew one of the laughers knew english, so I raised my voice and asked him. He said, "its a japanese game." I shook my head no and repeatedly asked "why? Why is he doing this?" The laugher said, "communication." Communication my ass. What the hell does that even mean, communication? I guess thats what you get when you teach at a school half full of idiots. Thankfully, the train stopped and the victim got out with me. Should I have stepped in and told the jackass kid to stop bullying? Probably. Of course, there was a good chance he would have said no, and then what would I do? Physically restrain him? Also, would I be helping the poor victim by stepping in, or hurting him? Regardless, I felt ashamed at myself for not kicking his watery-eyed ass right in the middle of the train. I hated him and his attitude, and I hated the position he put me in.

Today I ate dinner with my supervisor, Obata. I told him about my ordeal. I asked him if there are a lot of bullies at Koho.

"yes." he said, "Koho can be a shit school. Fights break out a lot. Kids talk back to teachers. We have a lot of absences."

I've never seen a fight break out at Koho, but I don't doubt it. I've certainly seen the absence problem first hand. On monday I taught a class where a full 55% of the kids were absent. I don't have to put that number in perspective, but I will anyway: On monday, in that class, if I were to randomly choose any name in the roll, there was a better than half chance that the kid wasn't there. Where were they all? Who knows? It certainly seems that their friends don't. We ask them and they just shrug. This isn't a rare thing, either. What is rare is when I teach a class with less than four absences.

At dinner, Obata took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
"I teach mostly bad students," he said, "kids that graduation means nothing to. I don't know how much more of it I can take, sometimes."

"When I came to Koho, I tried very hard to make them listen in class. But some don't listen. Some kids are monsters," He said.

It's times like that when I feel very sorry for him, and I wonder if the kids have finally just beat him down. He said he would report the jackass to his homeroom supervisor, who is also his baseball coach. I asked him about bullying and if a teacher should step in, or if it might hurt the victim even more. I expected a vague answer. I was wrong.

"step in," he said, flatly.

Hallelujiah.

I know the fuckers name now, too.