At my school we have a 25 minute study hall period. The students who have good grades get to spend those 25 minutes either outside, watching a movie, or participating in other fun things during that time. One day while patrolling the room with the movie, I noticed an energy that was new to the scene.
A large group of 7th grade boys were all grouped together at one table. What was happening within their circle, I couldn't see, but I figured I should check it out. We don't really care if they are paying attention to the movie or not, but we don't want anything sketch going on.
As I got closer, I began to hear a sort of a dull thud sound again and again.
thud. thud. thud. THUD. thud. thud. thud. THUD. thud. thud. thud. THUD.
Followed by a mix of cheers or boos.
Finally, I got close enough to see what was going on. The kids parted to let me through with looks of guilt and fear on their faces. What I saw shocked me.
On the table was a pile of gum. Next to that pile were two kids playing Rock, Paper, Scissors like their lives depended on it. Around them kids were cheering for who they wanted to win and waiting to be the next challenger. Whoever was the winner when the bell rang, got all the gum.
I wasn't mad. Heck, I thought it was kinda awesome. An underground 7th grade gambling ring. The game, rock, paper, scissors. The stakes: gum. If it had been money, I probably would have had to stop it, but gum seemed pretty harmless to me. I watched for a while and silently rooted for my student to win. Just as the bell rang, paper covered rock and he did it! My student not only won a whole lot of gum, but felt the glory of being champion as the other boys cheered and slapped him on the back. That day, in that moment, that 13 year old was living the dream.
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