Aaaaaaaaaggghh - The Scream Thread!

Just wait until uni.....it all gets sooo much better. *cough*

At least your music lessons then will be taught by me! I'll be nice!

I hope so

Teachers upsetting students, students upsetting teachers...oh dear!

We had fire drill this week, and even though I was LISTENING for the alarm, not one person in my class heard it, and eventually one of the office staff came to ask us politely if we would care to evacuate...doesn't bode well for actual emergencies.

I grumbled at my students for not preparing a certain piece of work, and they reminded me that we actually hadn't finished the preceding item...blush.

But all my classes seemed happy and productive this week, and Our Lady of the Sighs stopped sighing and gave me a wonderful speech on social prejudice in Tintin

And I'm all ready to send in the final invoice for a translation job!

BUT!!! I had a raging angry complaint from a parent at son Airman's school, because my son stood on her son's foot and I "hurt" him. Apparently it slipped her son's mind to mention that YET AGAIN he had attacked Airman, and had pushed him up against the neighbor's concrete wall and was in the process of strangling him when Airman lost his balance and stood on Strangler's poor tootsies. Airman's friend called me to help, and I admit that I did actually pull Strangler's T-shirt and briefly grab his wrist to get him off Airman...AFTER asking him to let go. Nor did he tell his mother why he'd attacked Airman - because Airman "cheeked" him by saying "Huh?" when Strangler made the very reasonable observation that Airman ought to throw himself under a passing truck and die.

This is a boy who threatens other kids with violence if they don't call Airman names, who punches him right in front of the staffroom and gets no more than a telling-off, who holds Airman down so his friends can beat him up...and gets no more than a telling-off...and so on. A pox on him, and as for teachers who go on about "equal access to education" while the crud and the bullies frighten good students into staying home...and who tsk-tsk and walk away from what would be crimes out in the real world...may every stick of chalk splinter in their hands, and may they get diarrhoea in the bus on their next school trip.

So there! Rant over

Sooo... what happened?



My advice: enrol your son in the local karate / other martial arts gym. But then he might get teased for that... (I certainly do, but no-one dares to try and hit me anymore)

My week has been mixed, but Thursday was definitely a low.

All ears, my daughter occassionally "practises" her karate with her karate mates at school during playtime... to show she can't be called very rude names anymore. Her teacher is very good but though offenders are punished umpteenth times, they still do their own thing! My neighbour who is a teacher got punched and her back seriously injured by a boy bully at school! The boy was just told off with a "serious" warning. But my kid's karate? Well, it worked!

EDIT - Just preventative hinting that you are not a soft target, that's all. No need to be of a high discipline/grade.

Edited by Tess, 19 November 2005 - 09:16 .

ok. highly undisciplined karate people arent all that good...

Things don't always get better, you know. My toddler kid smashes his head HARD!!!!!!! yes, HARD!!!!!!!!! on the floor and wall when he gets upset (a change in routine or his music got changed) and people REALLY upset me sometimes, I tell you, when they say things like - He'll get better and snap out of it or grow out of it or You have to be firm or something? What utter nonsense! Lots of adults with his neurological condition still bang their heads repetitively against the wall literally whenever they experience a meltdown or a change in routine... and has to be stopped by a pal. I'm not saying he can't be trained to control his extraordinary fear of change. In fact, right now we are (lovingly but seriously)training him to talk and behave in socially acceptable ways for his own sake. But some well-intentioned people (not being personal here, ACP, so please, I beg you, don't be hurt by my brutal honesty, OK?) MUST try not to say meaningless things like "things will get better", sometimes? Because that phrase means nothing to someone who is down or depressed...

What's consoling is NOT "circumstances will change" but that I myself find the courage/energy/grace/hope/etc. to change/cope. I have a friend who writes to me and longs for a normal life - to be able to sit up like normal folks and stand like everyone else instead of lying on her back all day and all night. I sat with her saying nothing knowing not what to say. Loss for words. Then she said - Thanks. I asked - What for? She replied - For being there. It'd be nice to be there for one another if we can.

The whole point of karate is so you can defend yourself, you are never supposed to use it in any other situation. Everyone gets told that in theor first lesson.

exactly! if people use it to beat other people up then thats not good. you're feeling better then Nat?

No, my face is really hot, and I am so tired.

I didn't take his comment in the wrong way.

I agree. All martial art says that including taichi which I did a long time ago. But all the martial art teachers will also agree that it's a preventative measure because once you do it, your level of self-esteem and/or fitness hopefully changes in time and you no longer look like a soft target. I know this because I was traumatised by bullying as a young child. I don't deserve to be bullied for sure but I did look like a softie bookwormish sort of person for whom bullies tend to be on the lookout.

Wasn't saying you did. Just including you as another person who may feel a bit tired or depressed today.

I wasn't talking about that. VN shouldn't be practising karate in the school playground, even with her karate friends, that is just showing off she can do it. The point of karate is too learn how to discipline yourself, improve level of self esteem/fitness as you said, but it is used to DEFEND yourself, and SHOULD NOT be used in any other situation.