Weather Or Not

So it turns out there is a far better weather-detection system than if you were to put together all of the Dopplar 9000s in the world. It is the student body.

Even the most slightly aware person can vouch for the fact that their moods are affected by the weather. And that the average teenager experiences (and expresses!) their emotions very vividly. Put those two things together and voila! you have an amazing weather prediction system.

When it snows, students act as if they've never seen the stuff before. Clouds and rain bring out the moody, depressed sides of them all. And the couple days spring has shined its head through the winter doldrums, the kids have been off the friggin' wall.

I had a conversation with the principal today, and he mentioned that March is his least favorite month of the school year. He went on to say that most of the knuckleheads seem to pull all their stunts this time of year. That March is when all the idiots seem to shine, and make their worst decisions. Given that March has the nuttiest weather of the year (60 and sunny one day, 32 and snowing the next), that makes a lot of sense.

Everyone gets antsy for spring to arrive. February and March are long months as we await the warm spring weather, colors, and clothing. When the sun finds a moment to peak through the clouds, and tease us with the coming attractions of April and May, everyone (student or not) gets naturally excited. Put that in the mind and body of an emotional (and often unstably so) teenager, and that's when you get students damn near impossible to settle down, limit their jokes, pranks, and other wonderfully immature actions.

I feel for the principal, vice principal, and other administrators who have to deal with the mess left behind by the impending vernal equinox. Certainly I alone have given them several students to deal with - in the last week alone, I have sent 5 students to them for various offenses. I think in the 4 weeks prior, I had sent a total of 3 down.

Ahhh, March. Weather isn't the only thing that acts like a lion these days.

I must say that as crazy as the students are acting these days, I can't say I'm all that excited about when we're faced with beautiful weather in May, and the kids are restless, and mentally suction-cupped to the windows.