darling cherub

At the beginning of this year, I put up a post about what to do if you deal with the kids of teachers in your school. I only wish that one of the teachers at my school had read the article and taken it to heart. Today I was blindsided by this teacher, we'll call her Ms. Protective, and I wasn't too happy about it.

Ms. Protective's son is in my chemistry class. He has aspirations to go into the medical field and attend a good British university. Since I know this, I do my best to ensure that this darling cherub is ready for the rigors of university life. When he doesn't turn in his work, I ride him just like every other student. When he doesn't perform up to his ability, I 'promote learning' with a gentle nudge by privately saying to him, "If you want to get into dentistry school, you're going to need to do better than the C you just earned." In essence, I do what every other teacher does - encourage and cajole.

The darling cherub is also a musician. He is an excellent string player and attends many workshops aimed at promoting high-level musicians. Unfortunately for him, these workshops are usually a week long and he misses school as a result of it - throughout the course of this year he has missed 3 weeks of school to attend various workshops. Our school has a rule that if a student is going to be absent for functions such as this, they must see the teacher for work before they go on the trip. This darling cherub always waits until the last minute before getting his checkout sheet signed with his teachers.

Last Thursday was his last day of the week and he didn't have my signature on the sheet. No sig means no credit for work done during the week. So Ms. Protective bails him out by finding me at softball practice and asks me to sign his sheet. I do so but tell the mother that it is unacceptable for this to happen. A student needs to take responsibility and see me personally. I thought it was over and that the darling cherub would find me upon returning to school.

But no, it could never be that easy.

Ms. Protective finds me in the lunch line today and in front of staff and students alike, brings up the topic of his missing work. I tell her that I need to talk to her about it and that in the lunch line is not a good place. She keeps pushing and so I tell her that if she wants to get his assignments, she needed to come visit me in my classroom for them - just like every other kid would do. Hey, if she is going to take responsibility for his actions and cover him when he fucks up and doesn't get the necessary signature then she can go through the same song and dance that every kid has to deal with. She goes off on me in the lunch line about how I'm being rude (?!) and not giving her the assignments right then and there.

WTF???!!! I'm trying to eat my lunch here lady!!!!

So I tell Ms. Protective that enough is enough and that if she has a problem with the way I conduct my class that she can talk with the director about it. Being aptly peeved about the situation, I decide to bring the head honcho in myself. I'm tired of Ms. OVERLY Protective going off when her boy doesn't get what she feels is right or that he is "being screwed". Whatever lady, you've pissed me off one too many times. Let's get the powers that be involved.

We have our meeting after school (during which I miss a bunch of practice time with my softball players - ya know, kids that show up to school and are responsible) and it comes out that darling cherub is didn't get his sheet signed BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID OF ME. Yes, that's right - he's afraid of me, the giant teddybear. His reason for being afraid - "Mr. Expat tells me that I'm not being responsible when I come to him late with my signout sheet."

No shit Sherlock, what else would I say?

"Congrats on being late for the 3rd time. This time you get a prize!"
"C'mere - lemme teach you how to be even MORE irresponsible."
Better yet -
"So my teeth are a complete mess because you didn't bother to get the assignment you missed in dentistry school?!?! No problem, I'll just eat soup for the rest of my life."

No - I think not. I'm a teacher for crying out loud. I teach. I teach more than just chemistry or physics or math. I teach your kid how to be a responsible adult. I teach your kid how to be a good and moral person. If you don't like it, then get your kid outta my class because I ain't gonna stop teachin' that way.

What did the meeting result in? More excuses from Ms. Protective and more allegations focused at me. Yeah, I'm the one whose wrong. I'm the one picking on the darling cherub because I think like the rest of the world. Whatever lady, I ain't teaching your kid anything more than what the curriculum demands.

And if I ever see the darling cherub's name on a dentist office door, I'm gonna run away screaming.