Confessions Of A Drug-Addicted High School Teacher Summary

The article “Confessions of a Drug-Addicted High School Teacher” by Jason Smith recounts the weekly experiences of an esteemed teacher in a conservative pocket in North California. Smith, while managing his student and superior’s complications is slowly deteriorating behind his own drug addiction issues. The main strategy used by Smith could be considered the credibility appeal; he attempts to reach his purpose by showing himself as trustworthy. Smith’s use of this rhetorical device in his writing effectively engages the reader interest and urges readers to consider how the teaching job is much more than just teaching, while his use of specific examples shows his familiarity of the subject and thus his ability to present a compelling argument.

He narrates how he could help students and parents solve their problems; including a teenager coming out of the closet, a girl being sexually abused, and a kid addicted to heroin. Besides helping and keeping secrets for others, Smith was also struggling with his secret of being dependent and under the constant influence of drugs. The students found Smith more accessible and reliable than any other authoritative figure in the school, which obligated their relationship to become more intimate and authentic. With Smith’s experiences the audience can truly see how during the last years of a teenagers education and transition into the real world, the person the students will grow into can be greatly influenced by the teachers. The purpose that Smith conveys through this article is to prove that as a teacher, his job is not only to teach his students a certain subject but also guide them through such significant moments of their

The article demonstrates how “broken recognizes broken. Two broken souls will find each other and hang on for dear life”, ironically the teacher who needs help is the one who inspires the students to overcome their fears and open themselves to him (Smith). The technique he chooses to relate his stories gives the audience an assurance that he is reliable and acquainted with being a teacher. He continuously uses transparent and direct phrases which show his honesty and openness to the audience, such as “I realize that “drug addicted high school teacher” sounds scary, but trust me, if you saw my paycheck you’d know that they got exactly what they paid for” or “if you were good at memorizing names and dates, you were going to have a tough time in my class. You’d be better served finding a teacher who gave a shit about mindless busy work and points-based assignments” (Smith). Subsequently, when he begins to share his shocking occurrences he gives away with them inner thoughts and emotions that help the audience create a type of connection that generates reliability. One of his internal outbursts was when another teacher scolds him for not helping out in a school activity, “Given the weight of the shit I’d been dealing with over the previous 24 hours, I sincerely gave no fucks about a