Teaching Hope (Anticipation)

The very first thing that stuck out to me in Teaching Hope was entry 9. It is the first day of the class in high school and the teacher says that he believes there are only three birthdays a person ever has. The first birthday is when they enter high school. The age here doesn’t matter since everyone enters a different age. This is the time they first take on responsibly and are seen as young adults. The second birthday is when they turn 18. They may or may not still be in high school but either way, this is when they are held accountable by their actions. If they get in trouble, they may not just get to go home with their parents, they may end up in jail. The third and final birthday is when they turn 21. This is when the world says they are responsible enough to buy and drink as much alcohol as you would like. The teacher talks about the importance of making smart decisions and that hopefully you have learned to be responsible enough to handle what comes with your last birthday. All the other birthdays are just yearlong mile stones with some other celebrations along the way.

The second entry that really caught my eye was entry 17. In the entry you find out the health teacher doesn’t let the students ask any questions about sex and how it works and anything that they are curious about. As a result, it all comes out during their other class. This entry really got me because I can’t imagine anything like that happening in my health class where I wouldn’t let them ask any questions. Having sex is a huge part of growing up and they should know everything about it. This entry frustrated me that a teacher who wasn’t the health teacher had to answer all of those questions.