The year my daughter was a senior in high school, one morning we had 6 inches of snow; her school bus came late. When she arrived home that day, she didn’t look happy.
“What happened?” I asked.
“The lady at the administration desk scolded me for being late. I told her the school bus was late. She then complained about my attendance record, telling me I shouldn’t miss so many school days.”
“I’ll go to talk to her tomorrow,” I said.
“NO! Don’t go. I’ll be embarrassed.”
“But, I have to. Otherwise, on the next snowy day you will be scolded again.”
She thought for a while, and said, “I still think we should let go, Mom. I’ll be fine.”
Next day, I went to see the principal. The principal wasn’t there; the vice-principal came to meet me. With a normal-chatting voice, I told the vice-principal what had happened, and asked her what we should do on the next snowy day so my daughter wouldn’t be scolded again (Pretending stupid solves problems better than shouting, in my opinion.)
The vice-principal said she was sorry about the incident. She assured me that it wasn’t my daughter’s fault.
I moved on to my next subject: my daughter’s attendance record. I told her that other than taking one sick day, the only time my daughter had missed school was when school asked her to participate in events or competitions. “If school isn’t happy with her attendance record, please consider sending someone else next time.”
Vice principal apologized. She promised me this wouldn’t happen again.
Later on that day, my daughter came home with a big smile on her face. She told me she was called to the office and the lady had apologized to her.
“Mom, you know what? Today, the whole day, I stayed far away from the office. I worried that you might come. I didn’t want to be embarrassed,” she said, and hugged me. “But, Mom, I am glad you did.”
I don’t like confrontation. But protecting my daughter’s right is an important mother thing for me. I do take it seriously.
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Yay for you, Helen! I think some people use their authority to purposely intimidate young people. You did great, and I’m glad your daughter was happy with how things turned out, too.
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Thank you, Lois. I was very surprised to find out she was scolded for being late. We were on time waiting for the bus!I never found out what that lady was. It’s probably better that way 😉
It’s AM at your place now. Good morning? 😉
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Wow, that’s great take Helen! Yes, you did the right thing and handled it wisely.
Here in India, it’s a common practice for teachers to use a ruler to hit the children if they misbehave. They did it once to my daughter (who was in pre-school), I came to know about it, and visited the school and told the principal..”If your staff touch my daughter again, they will go to jail!”. 😀
Yes, I changed the school immediately. Although children need to be disciplined, but schools’ should not be a jail for young minds.
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Thank you, Raj. In Taiwan, when I grew up, physical punishment was very popular. I think it started from 4th grade and ended on 6 grade. When I was 5th and 6th grade, basically, if you didn’t get a perfect score, you would be hit by a stick. I remember one teacher has rattan (?) stick and it hurt the most. Teachers took turns borrowing the stick from him.
I asked my mom if I could quit school because I don’t like physical punishment. I was a good student; I don’t get hit often, but even watching someone else get hit made me mad.
Of course my mom said I had to stay in school. After I graduated, I never went back .
I am so glad you stood up for your daughter!
Have a wonderful day.
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Yes Helen, something I feel so pathetic about the way things done this part of the world. Its very easy to make a child hate school. But parents have to watch it closely and take appropriate action before its too late. Now my daughter in different school and she is happy. 🙂 You have a good night!
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Well said. Thank you.
I am working on your lesson in my head… 😉
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I know that.. 😀
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I am glad that your daughter was convinced.
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Good morning, Pupali. As a Chinese, I was expected to obey authorities no matter if they are right or wrong. It took me a while to learn to speak up 😉
Have a wonderful day.
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And I am glad you did!
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I love you! I learned so much from your stories.
We all have hard time sometimes in our life; the important thing is to learn how to resolve it. It comes and goes, and we live on.
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Thank you, Lady Oscar. I have to admit that I had many embarrassing stories too. It’s easier to write not-embarrassing ones. Ha.
Have a great day.
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6 inches of snow at once? I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. Not sure if I’d like is or be miserable in it.
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