To make a complaint about this head of year

[Newfoundzestforlife]

Today in assembly at my child's school...
Child tells head of year that he has foxes in his garden at night and they sound like a child dying. Head of year replies "If only!" Then she apparently smirked at another teacher saying "Yes I did just say that".
My 13 daughter knew how wrong that was.
This head of year has form for saying really inappropriate things, very odd woman, but wishing death on kids? Why work with them if she hates them that much?

Surely if it's horrible, it could also be troubling.

I still don’t understand why you keep saying it’s ‘troubling’? It’s likely the first thing that came into the kid’s head, rather than the child having spent lots of time thinking about the sounds of a dying child 🙄.

Perhaps the child has a vivid imagination and/or reads lots of fiction. We weren't there so it may not have been troubling. Reading OP's account and imagining the pupil using those words, I did find it troubling, and would do if a child I knew talked about a dying child in response to hearing foxes in the garden. The noise could have prompted them to talk about people watching a horror film or having an argument, for example.

I still don’t know what you mean about it being troubling? It’s a horrible sound. So the child described it probably as the worst thing he could think of, sound-wise. Why people are making more of it than necessary is beyond me.

A 13-year old referring to a dying child isn't something that would make people happy, is it? Instead, It's troubling, to me at least. You're right, people, including you and me, are making more of it than necessary!

It’s not me making anything of this child saying what he said. I’m trying to make sense of why you and other posters think it’s such a big deal.

What's hilarious about this thread of people thinking teenagers would be troubled by the idea of a child dying , the fashionable thing to say at the moment amongst teenagers is "go kill yourself " and their swear word of choice is c*nt
Yet parents still insist they are all so innocent and have never heard the like

This 👆 100%. Parents are deluded about the innocence of their kids.

I am aware that teachers can be cruel to students, of course they can. But I think it was far more likely to be an off-the-cuff remark than evidence of a deep-seated and all-consuming hatred of children. Probably slightly inappropriate but certainly not complaint-worthy in my opinion.

Are authority figures allowed to make “off the cuff” remarks to those under their care? I’m not. I really don’t see the need to pretend that its ok for the HOY to be careless with her words in front of the children who have no choice but to attend the meeting. Why can’t she behave professionally?

Of course they are. And being a therapist is quite different to being a teacher. Professionalism is different in each profession.

I love all the performative over earnest literalism on this thread. Imagine them all in real life. Never cracking a smile or sharing a silly joke. No lady at the checkout at M&S you may not make a joke with me, how unprofessional of you.

Fuck help you if one of your kids wants to be a comedian. How are they going to practice 🤣🤣🤣

The worlds only therapist who doesn't understand there are different motivations, relationships and boundaries according to shared experience , also a therapist who judges a situation without knowing context.
Also an anthropology expert who again has overlooked shared cultural context 🙄

Haha. No. Actually I hang out here because I find English culture so funny. I don’t share it.

I was making the point that anthropologists and therapists should understand that they can't judge something without considering a full context ie shared between students and staff

The irony of the situation is that the joke would have gone down a storm in front of a class of 15 year olds. They'd have loved it. Apart from the prissy kids or the ones that wanted to make a complaint for the attention it got them.

Kids love a bit of humour and personality in a teacher. It fosters relationships.

Jesus, your daughter needs greater resilience. She has heard a flippant comment and gone home to tell her mum.

She will find the rest of the world a shock!

Today as a teacher I have been screamed at to f**k off twice, dealt with confrontation repeatedly, been called a bitch more than once, had a pupil tell me to shut up or they'll deck me, separated a fight, heard malicious rumours a pe teacher is a paedo, taught 6 lessons, had a break duty and a lunch duty then a before school and after school meeting. It's not Hogwarts and sometimes dark humour is used to get us through, as we know if we didn't really like kids (even when they are being unlikeable) and care a great deal we would quit.

Ps. I have not told my mum.