As students walked through the hallway rushing to after-school activities, we found ourselves in the middle of three simultaneous conversations among five high school boys. It was hard to keep up; We weren’t even sure if they were following along. One second it was about a text, the next second it was about their parents, or maybe the text was about their parents? In the words of those teens, “Idk ” 

The bell rings, signaling one class to the next – but between each of those rings are millions of micro-conversations. Conversations just like these students had in a matter of minutes.

In-between the “Idk’s” of that whirlwind conversation, we spoke with a few dedicated educators about the actions they take to ensure kids make good decisions. When they hear portions of these micro-conversations, how they decipher them, when they intervene and when they get alarmed.

Parents try to keep up with their kids. They know who their friends are and what they do after that final bell sounds dismissal, but it’s teachers who have the under-detected and unspoken eyes, ears and helping hands of this child-rearing village.

Teachers have the power to navigate a student into more calm waters, and talk to their parents about those moments between the bell and the front door that they may miss. They have the gravitas to talk to them about avoiding risky behaviors, particularly underage drinking.

For our next installment of Responsibility #StartsWithMe – we put their best thoughts, ideas and comments about this responsibility. They talked to us about the times they didn’t have the right answer to the moment they knew they had made a difference. #Goals 

Here’s what they had to say: