Thursday, May 10, 2007

Ouch . . .

Near the end of last term (Term 2) one of the little boys kicked one of the little girls and made her cry. Not fake crocodile tears that kids can turn on and off at will, but the big teardrops that stream down the face of the recently kicked (literally or metaphorically speaking). I sent him, accompanied by the classroom assistant, directly to the Principal's office (do not pass go, do not collect $100). We have to draw the line somewhere! Before leaving the room he began to justify his behavior but I wasn't having any of it. There's absolutely NO kicking allowed. I don't know what the principal did or didn't say to the little boy (who, by the way, I really like). I didn't ask and I don't really care. The principal brought the boy back to class, the boy made his apologies (reluctantly) and life goes on.

Term 3 - bigger kid, bigger problems (14 years old - bigger but not the biggest, yet). This term I've been contracted (by the parents) to help a kid with behavioral problems. Without getting into a lot of particulars just suffice to say that this boy shows the telltale signs of the overly indulged. His behavior is infantile. He doesn't show the minimum courtesy that even a very young child would. Words like please, thank you, and excuse me aren't in his vocabulary. BUT in art class today (1st thing this morning I might add) while sitting at a table of 2 other female classmates (also around 14) and myself he DID blurt out an interjection that was inappropriate and disrespectful.

Before everyone that knows me starts calling me a hypocrite because I can come out with a string of 4-letter words that would put dock-workers to shame, let me speak my peace.

I don't have a problem with the vernacular, I DO however have a problem with the inappropriateness of it all. There's just some stuff that you don't say in front of your teacher, your friend's parents, your grandmother, your boss, the Queen or some old chick your parents hired to help you pass the year. You can THINK whatever you want. There isn't a "thought" police force (if you don't count the Catholic Church hahaha) and you can sit in a meeting and think that the others in the room are a bunch of fools, morons, idiots and d**k-heads. But you keep it to yourself.

So this morning we had a double period of art (yes, you didn't miss anything. I accompany this teen to each of his classes and try to help him stay on task. I might add that I'm losing the battle. LOL) and my ward used a word that was totally inappropriate. I brought this to his attention - reamed him out about it was more like it. Told him that I didn't appreciate it and that he could say whatever he wanted when he was with his buds but not at a table with two 14 year old girls and me. He apologized. About 20 minutes later he used it again. This time I got highly pissed and told him that I was going to call his mother and tell her. (Actually I tried getting in touch with her 3 times today and there was no answer - so tomorrow is D day). Sidebar: Although my Portuguese is weak, I can call you a dirty so-and-so in Portuguese ;-).

The deal here is that there are roughly 6 BILLION people all trying to make it through the day every day. In order for all of us to live together on this planet, we each have to make some concessions to accommodate the others. That means smiling sometimes when we would rather not. That means saying "yes" sometimes when we want to say "no". That means sometimes being diplomatic when we really want to do it (whatever "it" is) our way. That means sometimes zigging when you really want to zag. That means not giving in to every id impulse and sometimes going along to get along.

Like I said, we have to draw the line somewhere. If we didn't, we would be kicking and getting kicked all day long.

2 comments:

NĂ­dia Nobre said...

Maybe I'm coming to hard but... beware of the parents... the boy didn't get that like that on his own... :P

Cristina Costa said...

The bigger you get, the wiser you are (supposed to be).
Unfortunately this sentence doesn’t do justice to today’s reality.
And I would like to say that when the boy decides to grow up and look around to see his “deceitful him”, he will regret every second of his boyish act. Unfortunately it is most likely not to happen, because no one around him, except you – his-by-him-believed-to-be-his-foe – is telling him what is right from wrong and he thinks he can have it all the way he pleases.
Selfish people are very easy to “create” – combine neglecting parents with an indulgent, non-of-my-business-because-it-is-still-not-affecting-me society is all that it takes.
Raising responsible kids is the duty of the moron. It is hard and you are usually taken for a dull, always-bitching-about-something-kind-of-a-person!
This last trait sounds familiar to me! Me!