Gorillas

At the end of every work day, I meet with two teachers whose classrooms are near my own. We share the ridiculous moments of the day, the struggles we need help with, and general complaints about dealing with adolescents.

On Friday, I worked late. Really late. Part of it was grading student work. Another part was hanging out with the custodian Ronnie who cleans my room. We've struck up a nice friendship this year. While I was still grading student work, Liz stopped by to share her amazement with some students she has in class. She had taken them to the computer lab to do some research. Now, her students are primarily twelfth graders. She was circulating throughout the computer lab area and overheard two students discussing a topic not related to their assigned task. Naturally, she listened to figure out how to approach the subject of putting them back on task without causing a scene.

"Are gorillas real?"

"Yeah, I think so. I think I saw one at a zoo once. But they might not be."

She said both students went silent and began working on the assignment again.


Now, I understand that our students come from different backgrounds, but it shocks me when a 17- or 18-year-old has no idea whether or not a gorilla is an actual animal. Something has happened in our culture that has allowed students to float in a state of make-believe and has provided very little exposure to the natural world.

I will admit that I have spent the last two days chuckling over this absurd dialogue that Liz swears is true.

I'm left wondering, though, if I mentioned it to Ronnie. He would get a kick out of that.

I can imagine myself asking tomorrow, "Hey, Ronnie, did we talk about gorillas on Friday?"

He'd probably respond with questioning look and say no.

I'd then tell him that if he makes it to my room before I leave, he has to remind me to talk to him about gorillas.