You know you're teaching in a rougher neighbourhood when

• a kid gets bear maced at lunch
• a girl explains how an ex boyfriend bear maced her once. 
• every other person in the class has been bear maced before, and yes i did a poll by show of hands.
• during a practice lock-down the kids want to gang up and hunt down the intruder themselves.
• the f-word is used in every second or third sentence. 
• one of the kids saw another one of the kids at the hospital because her mother had a drug overdose.

anddd that is why i love teaching these kids, because I have so much respect for them. Despite everything in their lives, they still muster the energy to come to school. These are the kids that deserve a good education.