So yesterday I was at a high school to teach a wild edibles class at the request of one of the science teachers. The school is considered one of the top high schools in The Woodlands, Texas, a very affluent suburb of Houston.

I have never been so sure that we are doing the right thing by homeschooling our kids.

The teacher had no power over the class. Kids were sleeping, talking, mouthing off to the teacher, throwing things around or just to drunk/stone to do anything other than stare into space. After talking for a bit we went outside and explored the ground for edible plants. Every plant we saw kids asked the same question: "Will it make me high?"

When we got back to the classroom the "students" (I have a hard time calling them that!) discovered that someone had gone through their bookbags and stolen money, cell phones, etc...

This was only one class but from what I saw while walking through the hallways suggests a majority of the classrooms are out of control.

Sidenote: it took me half an hour to pull out all my knives, hatchets, machetes, and other items out of my truck to make it legal to be on school grounds.

-Blast

Sounds like a great opportunity to start the young Texan asparagus enema craze, just to see how gullible these 'students' are!!

Hmmm, the wheels in my mind are turning, turning, turnng...
-Blast

I think your targeting the wrong audience.

High-school kids are going to be typical kids for 15 to 17 yo. They are punks, insolent, know-it-alls, in my high-school we had up to 60 kids in a class and if someone didn't fall out from drugs/alcohol, and there wasn't a fight, it was considered a good day by the teacher. It is the duty of every kid that age to push the limits and to chafe against all decorum and authority.

That this is a well-off school, with kids coming from well-off families just makes things worse. Think throw-away, latch-key kids who have have been catered to all their lives.

I can't imagine a wild food class has any relevance to them. Likely they took as a way to blow off some time without working at it. If they want food they go home or Mick-Ds. The subject being irrelevant brings on boredom, listlessness, bad behavior. Not interested in wild foods as food they, like most kids that age, want to get high. If you could point out two or three thing they might alter their minds by smoking, eating, or rubbing it into their bellies -not that you would or should- they would have perked up and paid attention. Kids that age need a 'hook'.

These are the same people the summer blockbusters cater to with fiery explosions, shootouts, gratuitous nudity/sex/violence. No matter how good you are getting these kids interested in stuff they consider to be weeds was a lost cause if you didn't toss in a few fiery explosions. A couple of nearly naked female assistants might have helped.

You would have better luck teaching petipoint to Hell's Angels.

I think you're going to have better luck with such a classes if you shoot for teaching younger kids. You need them old enough to be physically and mentally competent but young enough to be curious and impressed by authority figures. High-school is too late. Late elementary school, or what is called middle school, might get you a more receptive audience.

No worry. Teaching a class is itself a learning process. If you keep seeking out the right audience, and keep working on your lesson, it will 'click' one day. Teaching is kind of like stand-up comedy.

An interesting take on stupidity:
http://scienceblogs.com/mikethemadbiologist/2010/10/i_find_hope_in_the_constancy_o.php

I actually have a little sympathy for todays teenagers. Just look at the top 10 Billboard.

http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/charts/hot-100

Utter drivel, then I realised Leftfield, Leftism and the Chemical Brothers Exit Planet Dust and Dig Your Own Hole is nearly 15 years old. Now I'm a little depressed...

You've gotta have a little sympathy for the youngsters trying to shock and awe the older generation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ybExkQSfFw

Wow, I haven't heard a single song in the top 10! The only one of them I even know is Katy Perry, and mostly just because she's smokin' hot!

Someone needs to get poor little High-Rise Boy a Bonsai tree.

Hey Blast!Here's a Cog for the turning wheels,Next time you get asked to show a class,Put some Cocoa Puffs in your pocket,& Plant them in an area,you intend to show,When you get to the planted site/s,explain to them How,Rabbits eating certain plants or vegetation,such as Lambs breath or licorice root, produce turds,that give you a Brief Buzz for about 5 minutes or so,& The more you eat,of course the longer the buzz,Then reach down & say "here's some of those right here!"& Pop em' in your mouth,chew em' up,stick your tongue out,to show you are chompin' on em',Tell them,It takes a while to start feeling anything,5-10 minutes later,Yell Out a Big "YeeeHawww"!when they respond to your strange behaviour,Tell em' you just got a Big Headrush,& you are starting to feel it!Inform them it doesn't make your eyes red,either!I'll bet they will learn REAL fast,How to tell the difference of Licorice root/Fennel,etc.Some cats require a little coaxing,before skinning!lol!

A while back, I pull into a gas station to get fuel for my car. A young man runs up and says "yes, sir?" I tell him to fill it. After a few minutes, I glance in the door mirror to see he has the nozzle out of the car and is pumping gasoline onto the ground. I get out and ask him what he's doing and he stands up and embarrassingly says he's not very good at math and that when the nozzle click's off on a full tank, he then pulls it out and pumps some gas onto the ground until it hits an even number. It seems he can only give change in twenty-five cent increments.
I said something like "You never finished school, huh?" He breaks into a huge smile and says "Oh, no. I graduated from (the local high school).