this is why i don't teach 9th grade

At my school, the morning annoucement routine starts in the beginning of 3rd/4th bell (when we take daily attendance). This is a change from last year, but a nice change, seeing as how we start off with a moment of silence. It's hard to make 25+ kids be silent when half of them are straggling in from a late bus or late parent/caregiver dropping them off. Third and fourth bell are much more put together and I usually only have one student straggle in late (and 85% of the time with a pass).
But this morning was different. Before I get to how this morning was different, I need to explain something:
This year, our school is trying out a new system. All of the first time 9th graders are downstairs. Anyone 10-12th grade stay upstairs for all classes. Even those repeating 9th grade classes don't take classes with first time 9th graders. The only time you see a 9th grader upstairs is if they are in a high-level science class or they have a foreign language class. The freshmen even have their own lunch period. The first one. The point behind giving them lunch first is not just because those youngsters get cranky when they haven't eaten, but so they can see a perfectly clean cafeteria and then re-create it at the end of lunch. The amazing thing about this is that upstairs is quiet. Silent, at times. Everytime I was in the hallway up until Friday and today, I couldn't quite put my finger on what was different. Now I know what it is: a lot less freshmen wandering around the hallways and being jackasses.
In the past week, there were not one, but two food fights during the freshmen lunch period. The week before that, there was another one. Not only that, but someone has been pulling the fire alarm four out of the five days in the week at the end of the day. This has been going on for the past two weeks.
This morning, Mr. D (the principal himself, ooooh!) gets on the mic after the bell for the first class of the day rings. He addresses the freshmen and freshmen teachers. I have no first class on "B" days, so I was in the workroom with other teachers. Mr. D starts off thanking the 95% of the freshmen who are doing good and trying to adjust to high school. Then he points out that he needs to speak with the other 5%. He comments on their behavior and their extreme lack of respect. Then he mentions to teachers that we all need to be watching the fire alarms for the culprit that keeps pulling them at the end of the day. He mentions that the law has been brought in to bring an end to it.
When he's finished, the other teachers discuss it. It's been mentioned recently that people are thinking we should go back to the older system of Elementary being K-6, Junior High being 7-9 and Senior High being 10-12. I definitely agree that 6th graders don't belong in middle/junior high. The 9th grade problem is one I'm not sure on. They're kind of in between both schools. Plus, it's only the beginning of the year. Other teachers didn't really point that out, but it was pointed out many times that these freshmen are still very much in the mentality of "middle school".
As some of you know, there are two grade levels I would never want to teach: 6th and 9th. Sixth grade is so... ugh. The attitude of teenagers, the uberenergy of children. No, no, no. I hated subbing 6th grade. The only 6th graders I liked were the ones in the after-school program, and that took a looong time for me to be able to handle them. Ninth grade... ugh. Now that I have tenth and eleventh, I'm used to kids that are already used to high school. I don't think I could enjoy teaching kids who need to be told again and again that they're in HS and need to act like it. I don't want to train them, I want them to already be trained.
Oh, and the best thing about all of this? The fire alarm goes off at the end of the day. Now, whoever's doing it is just rubbing it in our face, all "Oh yeah? You're watching, huh? Well, take that!". I think it'd be really funny if no one has been pulling it, but the system's just gone haywire. Especially now that there's been a special announcement all about it. Ha! That'd be just perfect, wouldn't it?