More about the last post
Christy wanted to know what the content of Said Woman's email was. But, nah, I'm not going to post it. Said Woman was trying to be helpful, I guess. I am not positive of her motivations. Whatever the case, her email was annoying because she stepped into a conversation that she didn't fully understand; she couldn't understand it fully because, among other reasons, she is not a teacher of freshmen at my school. That is as diplomatic and neutral as I can be.
This woman has contacted many faculty members of my school with gestures of friendship--that's okay, they're fully realized adults (supposedly). But she has also contacted and established relationships with many freshmen on this campus--sent emails to them based on things they've said on message boards, etc. I personally find that behavior inappropriate on her part--both as an author and an adult: Create a work of writing and send it into the world, then let the world react unhindered, especially if they're eighteen years old for pete's sake.
Unfortunately for Said Woman, no matter how much she wants to reform and has reformed, she's an ex-con, ex-smack-addict. I'm sure some of these freshmen's parents would turn colors if they knew their children had established friendships with former heroin addicts recently released from prison. Other parents, I suppose, would be non-plussed. True, these freshmen are technically adults, but just barely.
I just wanted to steer clear of her--and I had, up until this careless error on my part. Ugh. I'm annoyed at myself; I should know that sometimes people will indeed read every single one of the 250,000 google responses that pop up when they type in a search string. I should have been a bit more careful to make sure I didn't come up--I could have avoided this aggravation.
And yes, I am making value judgements about this woman, here, on my blog. These, incidentally, are not value judgements that I made against her in class; in fact, I did not teach her essay in my class because I had strong negative feelings about it and did not want to taint my class with my reaction to her essay. In short, I did not want to teach 12-step philosophies in my Comp I class and her essay was heavily based in those philosophies--discussion of them would have been difficult to avoid.
And now a message to you, Said Woman, should you find my blog: I'm sorry that some of what I've written here may hurt your feelings. I'm glad that you're trying to get your life straight and I appreciate that prison may not be the answer--perhaps more rehabilitation is needed, or an overhaul of the prison system...that is a whole other discussion.
You are not in my position, teaching eighteen and nineteen year olds. In my professional capacity, I am hesitant to extend too much understanding to people who commit certain crimes. It wasn't so long ago that I was their age and I remember saying and hearing, "If we want drugs, we'll find them." But I know now, as an adult, that I would have had a lot more trouble finding Trouble if people like the Person You Were didn't live nearby. Not everyone escapes drug addiction as easily as you did--through prison. Some only escape it through death--involuntary, voluntary, or accidental. People make fun of the War on Drugs and I've made fun of it right alongside them--but I must say that although I believe the gameplan is flawed, the ideal behind it is not. Standing in front of a room of fledgeling adults, I cannot afford to extend more than cordial sympathy toward certain types of criminal behavior.
I have left behind others that I loved because of the precise things you and other book contributors dealt with in your pasts; sometimes it's sink or swim, especially if you're young. And that is what I have told the few students who have approached me privately this semester with personal dilemmas in some way stirred by reading the book in question and other texts assigned in my class.
I appreciate that you are sorry for mistakes made in your past, but your past is YOURS, forever, and it will never change. Good luck to you in your recovery, and again, sorry if I've hurt your feelings. But be aware, when you reach out to someone, that not everyone wants to be touched.
Christy wanted to know what the content of Said Woman's email was. But, nah, I'm not going to post it. Said Woman was trying to be helpful, I guess. I am not positive of her motivations. Whatever the case, her email was annoying because she stepped into a conversation that she didn't fully understand; she couldn't understand it fully because, among other reasons, she is not a teacher of freshmen at my school. That is as diplomatic and neutral as I can be.
This woman has contacted many faculty members of my school with gestures of friendship--that's okay, they're fully realized adults (supposedly). But she has also contacted and established relationships with many freshmen on this campus--sent emails to them based on things they've said on message boards, etc. I personally find that behavior inappropriate on her part--both as an author and an adult: Create a work of writing and send it into the world, then let the world react unhindered, especially if they're eighteen years old for pete's sake.
Unfortunately for Said Woman, no matter how much she wants to reform and has reformed, she's an ex-con, ex-smack-addict. I'm sure some of these freshmen's parents would turn colors if they knew their children had established friendships with former heroin addicts recently released from prison. Other parents, I suppose, would be non-plussed. True, these freshmen are technically adults, but just barely.
I just wanted to steer clear of her--and I had, up until this careless error on my part. Ugh. I'm annoyed at myself; I should know that sometimes people will indeed read every single one of the 250,000 google responses that pop up when they type in a search string. I should have been a bit more careful to make sure I didn't come up--I could have avoided this aggravation.
And yes, I am making value judgements about this woman, here, on my blog. These, incidentally, are not value judgements that I made against her in class; in fact, I did not teach her essay in my class because I had strong negative feelings about it and did not want to taint my class with my reaction to her essay. In short, I did not want to teach 12-step philosophies in my Comp I class and her essay was heavily based in those philosophies--discussion of them would have been difficult to avoid.
And now a message to you, Said Woman, should you find my blog: I'm sorry that some of what I've written here may hurt your feelings. I'm glad that you're trying to get your life straight and I appreciate that prison may not be the answer--perhaps more rehabilitation is needed, or an overhaul of the prison system...that is a whole other discussion.
You are not in my position, teaching eighteen and nineteen year olds. In my professional capacity, I am hesitant to extend too much understanding to people who commit certain crimes. It wasn't so long ago that I was their age and I remember saying and hearing, "If we want drugs, we'll find them." But I know now, as an adult, that I would have had a lot more trouble finding Trouble if people like the Person You Were didn't live nearby. Not everyone escapes drug addiction as easily as you did--through prison. Some only escape it through death--involuntary, voluntary, or accidental. People make fun of the War on Drugs and I've made fun of it right alongside them--but I must say that although I believe the gameplan is flawed, the ideal behind it is not. Standing in front of a room of fledgeling adults, I cannot afford to extend more than cordial sympathy toward certain types of criminal behavior.
I have left behind others that I loved because of the precise things you and other book contributors dealt with in your pasts; sometimes it's sink or swim, especially if you're young. And that is what I have told the few students who have approached me privately this semester with personal dilemmas in some way stirred by reading the book in question and other texts assigned in my class.
I appreciate that you are sorry for mistakes made in your past, but your past is YOURS, forever, and it will never change. Good luck to you in your recovery, and again, sorry if I've hurt your feelings. But be aware, when you reach out to someone, that not everyone wants to be touched.
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