Sour Skittles

In my last post, I discussed some of the games I played as a child. Let’s take a look at some of the games the students are playing now in middle school.

• Skittles – In this gender neutral game, a child shouts “skittles” at another child, usually in the hallway. The child who has received skittles is pummelled by children within hearing range. The objective is to leave bruises the colors of Skittles: blue, purple, green, orange, red, and yellow.
• Happy Birthday – This game is also initiated by a shout in the hallway. In this case, “Happy birthday” is shouted by a friend. All friends within hearing then hit the lucky birthday child as quickly as possible on the arms. This game is usually male-dominated.
• Fresh Cut – The child who has received a haircut recently is the recipient in this case. Every child who notices and announces “fresh cut” is allowed to punch with all his or her strength the child with a new haircut. Girls are rarely the recipients but are sometimes the perpetrators.
• Book Check – This equal opportunity game consists of students checking the hold of other students on their supplies while passing in the hallway. As one child passes another, he or she announces “book check” while slamming his or her books on the books in the arms of another child. The objective is to have all the books fall to the ground.
• Sundae – The latest game making the rounds of middle school is played exclusively by boys. In this game, one child announces “sundae” then grabs the nipples of another boy using a scooping motion (the ice cream). While the boy attempts to defend his chest, the other child then makes a grab for the testicles with the objective of tugging on them (the nuts).

In all honesty, I don’t understand these games but I didn’t understand Swirly, Indian Burn, or Uncle very well either. Children have proclaimed these games. As an adult, I view them as bullying behavior but are they? Are these games, which seem so provocative to me, innocent rites of passage? Will the children now view these games with nostalgia in the future? Or will Skittles, Fresh Cut, and Sundae be the stuff of childhood nightmares and trauma?

Administrators and teachers try to stop the games in the hallways and on school grounds but we’re outnumbered. I think about just how outnumbered we are a lot. My smallest class is me vs. 6 students and two of the students are taller than me.

We’re out-teched, too. I’m told that a lot of the new games are invented and spread via Facebook. A number of states and districts have forbidden their school personnel from having any online contact with students, especially through Facebook and MySpace. These kinds of laws leave teachers defenseless against flash mobs of students.

What are we supposed to do?

• Tom’s
• Sperry’s
• Uggs
• Juicy Couture
• Coach
• MissMe Jeans

I own none of these. In fact, I don’t know what Tom’s and Sperry’s sell.

Yes, you read that right: World Book Night book giver! Has a nice ring to it, yes? And you’re one of them, or will be on April 23! Thank you!!!!!!!

I don’t know yet which books I’ll be giving away. I selected three books which appear appropriate for middle school students. Here are the possibilities.

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  by Sherman Alexie
• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Friday Night Lights by HG Bessinger
• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
• Little Bee by Chris Cleave
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Blood Work by Michael Connelly
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
• Because of Winn Dixie – Kate Dicamillo
• Zeitown – Dave Eggers
• Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
• A Reliable Wife – Robert Goolrich
• Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
• Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
• The Stand by Stephen King
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
• Bel Canto  by Ann Pratchett
• My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Piccoult
• Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
• Lovely Bones by Alice Seebold
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Just Kids by Patti Smith
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

The red books are the ones I’m most interested in. The blue books are those I’d like to read myself.