Polly Bath: People say to me, “Oh my gosh. What are we going to do with these kids, Polly? They go home every day, and when they go home all of the stuff gets undone.”

Of course it gets undone when they go home. I can’t change the home. What I can do is I can teach you how to behave in this environment. When you walk through the door of the school, I can say, “We’re in school now.”

All of a sudden you start cussing, swearing, and doing whatever it is that you do at home. I remind you, “We’re in school now.” Eventually that kicks in, and you behave very differently when you get to school.

You all do the same thing. You just came off the summer. Did you go to some summer parties that were fun? Maybe. Guess what? You could leave there with a lampshade on your head, if you wanted. You could copy your behind in the copy machine, if your friend had one in the basement, but you wouldn’t do that at the company holiday party, because somebody taught you how to behave in different areas.

That’s called life. Don’t get all hung up about what happens outside the school. Just know that you have total control over your six hours a day, and that’s a good thing.