A Freedom Writer Teacher's Story: Anticipation #9

This story is of a teacher who teaches his students that they have really only three "birthdays" in their lives. He believes that when students enter high school, no matter what their age, they must learn responsibility, and this is their first birthday. At age 18, students are treated as adults by the criminal justice system, as well as by parents. For this second birthday, they become accountable. For their third birthday at age 21, students are allowed full access to alcohol. This teacher then discusses with his students the harms and dangers that accompany alcohol when it is abused. He instructs them that they must remember the responsibility and accountability that they learned from their first two birthdays when they celebrate this third birthday. He ends his emotional "birthday lecture" with the words, "Happy birthday, and welcome to the rest of your lives."