Recess Pieces

My younger son’s teacher is a questionable quantity so far this year. My son, who is generally well-liked by peers and teachers, is coming home stressed and upset by his asshole of a teacher. We have been talking a lot about not being able to choose all of the people in your life, and making the best of it! And finding things to like about people! And keeping your own counsel, and maintaining your center when surrounded by an asshole! I’ve been doing all of the parenting things on my side, but this teacher is just one of those vindictive and petty kinds of teachers, the kind who keeps kids in at recess to write their name on their paper when they have forgotten. And the kind who won’t tell a kid what he did wrong on his math, that he “has to figure it out himself”, and when that child becomes tearful and continues to ask, continues to say “Figure it out yourself.” Then my son, who is compassionate, kind, and tender-hearted, comes home telling me, “Mom, Miles was so upset. When we worked together later we snuck his math over so I could help him. I didn’t want to get in trouble but he couldn’t figure it out and Ms. Sinisterpants wouldn’t help him.”

I am disenchanted with this teacher, in the sense that I was never enchanted to begin with and now am less so. In fact, I have requested a meeting with her. This is new territory for me, because my kids are consistently pretty all right to have in class and don’t cause trouble. But this teacher’s constant punitive mean shit is really not working for me, and it’s not like she’s making up for it with excellence. I emailed with a collaborative spirit, because that’s the right way to approach it. And I will go into it that way. But let it be said that she has caused within me a turbulence, a currently-contained mild fury that will be released all over her if need be, most civilly of course because Midwest. And because personality.

I am open, very much so, to hearing her perspective. With all that I’ve heard, though, I just can’t seem to think of a perspective that makes her behavior okay. I don’t think people should be assholes to kids. In fact I am vehemently against it, and offended by the taking advantage of the inherent power of her position to do so with impunity. I will stand up for my kid, and he will know that I will always do that.