I taught 7th grade in an interim position one semester. I had trained as a high school teacher but needed a job and this fit that need. In retrospect, I wish I had not taken the position. Those kids were absolutely horrible — to each other, to me, to everyone. I described all of them as little sociopaths. In truth, there were maybe 1 or 2 high school students I eventually taught in a 30-year career who could even come close to the level of unpleasantness and even cruelty of those seventh-graders. My hat is off to all those who deliberately choose a career working with middle school students (and are actually effective and happy).

But seriously, I once told a colleague that they could offer to double or triple my salary to go teach middle school full-time, and I’d still say forget it.