Should I be concerned?

There are things that I see and hear in the classroom that leaves me dumb-founded. Following a split-second paralysis, comes dilemma of deciding the next course of action. Do I take the matter seriously and go about fixing it, or do I accept such shenanigans as being a part of middle school life?

Case 1: It was career day when a firefighter came in, inducing oohs and ahhs over all the firemen gear he brought in with him. He finished his speigl about the training and everyday routines firemen go through. The class was enraptured and inspired to do something as significant as saving lives. When he asked a boy in the first row what his dream job was, he replied, "To be a criminal".

Verdict: Red alarm.

I wanted to bury my head in shame and was about to take some disciplinary actions, when he replied after a moment of shocked silence, "Just kidding, I want to be a UFC fighter". Not much better but I'll take that over a juvenile delinquent.

Case 2: A journal entry from a student read, "If looks were punches, I would beat myself up by looking in the mirror."

Verdict: Alarmed.

I pulled the student aside at the end of class and asked him what this sadly eloquent simile was about. He shrugged sheepishly and said he just wrote it casually. I found that fact more disturbing.

Case 3: I look up from grading quizzes to find one solitary girl not doing her work and idly playing with a marker. Then I saw her raise that marker and carefully draw a perfect, curly moustache above her lips. Our eyes met and we looked at each other for awhile, me with my mouth open, and her with her newly drawn 'stache quickly drying atop her lips.

Verdict: Shocked.

Although highly amusing, this student's case turned out to be the most serious. Upon conferring with other teachers and her grade counselor I found out that she was showing signs of spaciness across the board and may be suffering from depression.

It's a topsy turvy world we live in, and a classroom is certainly not immune from it.