ABSTRACT
Even the most satisfactory of pupils can cause havoc if their teachers are unprepared for the battle that so many young people feel they must fight. There is a crudity that characterises adolescence that stems from an inability to empathise with others and that is simply a product of immaturity, not malice. The vanity and apparent self-satisfaction revealed in so much of the chatter of adolescents is a thin veneer over their insecurity. Adolescents speculate a good deal of the time on whether or not they are being appreciated, not, of course, just by adults, but by anyone they meet or even indeed just pass by in the street. Many a busy teacher trying to get through an examination syllabus with classes of thirty or more and acres of paper to mark will find these unrealistic demands irritating.
