PERSONAL SPACE, PLEASE

Junior High School boys cannot keep their hands to themselves! Constant hitting, pinching, tapping, every minute of the choir period. I once had a seventh grade boy who had to have his own square. Honestly, he spent so much time picking at those around him, that I moved his chair away from the others and gave him his "assigned square" where he sat all year. This year, the touching epidemic seems worse than ever. The boys have given a new name to an old prank. You know the one..... where someone stands on one side of you and sneaks his hand around the back of your shoulders and taps on the opposite shoulder to make you look the wrong way???? We all grew up with that, right? Well, it has a name now. "Ha, ha, ha! You been merked!" In an attempt to understand why this activity goes on in my class on a daily basis, I asked my boys why they do this? The answer was simple...... "cause it's funny to see them look the other way." OK! A new game has appeared in the choir room this week. My young men seem to enjoy pulling out each other's leg and arm hairs. Why? I haven't figured that one out yet. But I did get an explanation from one of my former students, a college aged young man. He explained to me that girls would do it too, but they don't have any leg hair. I am forever grateful for the invention of the razor!!!