Why is it that we insist upon cutting each other down?

I have been warned that those students who will come to me next year are challenging (my word)
I have been told that they are mean and nasty and don’t care about each other (not my words)

Why is it that we insist upon cutting each other down?

Last year I had students who got pleasure from seeing each other in pain,
Pain caused by excluding,
Pain caused by baring their own hurts by digging in another’s tender flesh
And I was too young, inexperienced to stand up and say,

Why do we insist upon cutting each other down?

This year we have spent hours, days, practicing what it means to be a friend,
To treat even those who are not our friends with the dignity all humans deserve
We still have lapses, but we also know that we are better than that

I have all this in my mind as I face the challenge of next year.
I will not allow my hope to be dimmed by a coworker, who says,
“I feel bad for next year’s fifth grade teacher,”
When she knows it will be me.

Why do we insist upon cutting each other down?

Because that is what we hear,
That is what we learn.