Yesterday I was really triggered. Am I being unreasonable, to be angry at a teachers’ comment to my son? Should I write a factual or scathing letter to this teacher? What does it achieve to challenge one of your kids’s teachers? Does it just set them up for even more verbal abuse?
So it was School Fair donations week. In order to have the privilege of not wearing school uniform on Monday, students could bring in donations or pay £2.50 on the day. In return for donations their name would be removed from a list showing that they donated items.
It rained all week, all week, lashed out of the heavens. Shoes didn’t even dry properly from the day before so they had damp feet all week. The kids have heavy rucksacks and although they get a lift most of the way they are not keen to carry heavy loads of extra stuff for the school fair. I disagreed with the £2.50 charge for not wearing a school uniform, I think, on principle this is excessive.
Parents are told not to park in the school car park under any circumstances (otherwise I could fill my boot with stuff for the school fair!)
I gave my boy, 4 books, 1 puzzle & 1 bottle of beer. Off he trotted into the line with his bag of stuff. His good friend had nothing with him to donate. My son gave his mate half of what he had. Then my son handed over his bottle to the very keen helpful student in charge of storing bottles. When my son got to the top of the queue to have his name crossed off the list, he had 2 small items left in his hand. His mate had 2 medium sized books.
The teacher shouted at my son “I HOPE YOU BROUGHT MORE THAN THAT SMALL AMOUNT”. My son was embarrassed and angry and shared this with me later in the day.
What springs to my mind is that Guardian advert with the skinhead and the building site.
This teacher didn’t see 1) that my son had already handed over the bottle donation 2) that he shared his donations with his friend. Also how does that teacher know what any child has available at home to bring in or whether they have £2.50 available to give….. how does that teacher know any individual childs’ circumstances?
Instead of a THANK YOU. He was barked out by a senior member of staff. Embarassed and humiliated to be singled out for “not giving enough”. He was doing 2 good things 1) donating 2) sharing.
This is a Christian school. Everything is about values, good Christian living. Yes this teacher is miserable and negative towards the youth under his command.
I have given it a lot of energy. The situation has annoyed me but is there really any point in taking this up with the teacher directly?