Remember my excitement about returning to elementary school this week? Let's recap the last two days:
- Two 8-year-olds passed notes that included the words "I want to kill her" and "She's a dumb b!tch."
- I managed to remain somewhat professional by not yelling, "What the f&ck is wrong with you?! You're 8 years old!"
- Aforementioned 8-year-olds were referred to the office and notes were sent home.
- Mother of the 8-year-old who was most likely the author of the "dumb b!tch" comment wrote back saying that it wasn't her son and that she only signed the note so we know she received it. But clearly we/I were/was wrong.
- The mother of said 8-year-old listed the following as evidence:
- He said he didn't do it
- She's never heard him use profanity
- He doesn't even know how to spell those words
Needless to say, I have gained new respect for teachers who must deal with this every day. The kid did a much better job today--they both did--so I was happy with that, but a part of me was completely depressed by how willing a parent was to make excuses for a child when the evidence was clearly there. Please don't misunderstand me: this is not my first encounter with a parent like this, and I'm not surprised by their existence. But the fact that they do exist, and the fact that I can do nothing about it is beyond frustrating. Everyone says that these helicopter parents are a recent development from the Homeland Generation, but I'm not so sure. Based solely on my viewing of The Conspirator, I infer that parents have been defying logic and sheltering their children for a long time. Although I'm guessing that John Surratt didn't take his mother's sheltering as absolution from his crimes against everyone's favorite person. Maybe?
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