Monday, my son went back to school with much trepidation but armed with unknown resources: we notified his teacher about what had happened on his first day. Concerned, she promised that the teachers overseeing Recess would be extra vigilant to ensure that the older kids weren
4 responses to “Playground Wars: Josias Strikes Back”
I know how I’d feel in your situation. Part of me would want to explain why it’s wrong to do bad things back to bad people and sink to their level, while another part inside my brain would be standing, cheering, and applauding the littlest Sith.
Just promise you won’t buy him a clown mask…
This is classic and tragic: “We weren’t watching the first day, so we didn’t see your son attacked and picked on. We only watched after you complained, and saw him retaliate. We will now label him a trouble maker.”
Perhaps what these mental midgets who must have been absent on the day the teaching class covered “How to Run Recess” might want to take a day or two and actually get INVOLVED with the kids. Maybe actually interact with them before the violence starts to teach a bit about citizenship and kindness, and then perhaps structure their recess activities just a little bit. I realize recess and lunch time are supposed to be “free play” periods where children explore their world and interact with each other on a less adult-directed level, but that approach obviously isn’t working for now.
I remember in 3rd grade, we had one recess “monitor” who’s stated policy actually was “I don’t care if there are fights, as long as they’re one-on-one.” This was before I became overweight, wimpy, weak and uncoordinated. I was also a kid from New York transplanted to Vegas who had already been in plenty of dust-ups. On the first day that this Nazi was monitoring recess, some jerk picked a fight with me. I was caught off guard and stunned, and put up little defense. The next time Nurse Cratchet was on duty, I walked right up to the kid, knocked him down with one punch and watched his two friends run away like the two Agents who just witnessed Neo destroy Smith for the first time. I then proceeded to make the kid eat more grass than some cows eat in a lifetime. Cruelly and without mercy. No trouble after that.
But what happened to me is totally an exception and should not be repeated, especially in today’s world where retaliation has a way of tragically escalating. Prayer and proper parenting – your way – is the best solution.
MCF: Yes, I promise
It does seem like a downward spiral, and I agree totally with Jerry that it’s an injustice. I hope Sy is able to work it out, but I have to admit that I’m glad that he stood up for himself in the meantime. Prayers continue.