Don't shrink your standards, link yourself with those who think and ink like you.
Middle age is when your old classmates are so grey and wrinkled and bald they don't recognize you.
My most famous commercial was for Fruit Of the Loom underwear. I took a lot of razzing from my classmates.
I am not bothered by the silence. For all the noise I make with my friends, I am still not comfortable talking about my feelings in front of others - especially not classmates.
A child's learning is a function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher.