Back to School

"Mom, I got in a fight today."

It is two days into the new school year for my second-grader and these were his first words to me when he walked in the door this afternoon. I took a moment to look him over (for expression as well as cuts and bruises) and he seemed ok. "Sit down and tell me what happened." I said.

Now, this young fellow has enough energy to power the entire country and at least half of another one. His story was full of animation and demonstration and was just as entertaining as it was unsettling. To sum it all up it turned out to be a normal spat between young minds that turned physical. These things happen every day so it is no surprise to me that one of my two boys would come home with such a story on any given day. There is, however, something rather disturbing about the whole situation.

To explain a bit, I have given my two young warriors an order and I expect them to follow it. They both understand that if they take the steps they have been instructed to take, in the order they should be taken, and they still end up in a fight at school, there will be no trouble at home. My little one followed this order as best he could and still came home with this news.

Although the fight occurred on the school bus, the making of it began at school early in the day. In class, the boy snatched my son's pencil from his desk and would not give it back. While telling his teacher that the boy took his pencil he was told to "sit down" and "be quiet". Nothing was done about this except for a brief speech to my son about "responsibility and keeping up with his own supplies" when he later asked to borrow one of hers. Of coarse, the other boy had to giggle about this and taunt my son a little because that's how these things go.

At recess, this same boy rushes toward the swing my son is getting into, shoves him out of the way and into the dirt, snatching the swing up for himself. I am sure you can picture the scenario. My son takes this to the teacher on duty who does not ask who the offender is but instead, explains to him that he will be in trouble and lose his recess if he doesn't keep his hands to himself, try to get along with others and play nice.

There was also an incident during lunch where this same boy walked by my son and casually brushed some of his food onto the floor. The teacher noticed the mess, scolded my son and made him clean it up. He struggled to tell her what had happened but he could hardly get a word in much less her full attention.

Throughout the day he fought to be heard and no one would hear him. It was as if part of the teacher's dress code requirement was a good, solid set of earplugs. Possibly they were even pre-tested and hired using a 'lackofattentionometer'. There is no surprise that this fight occurred when nothing was ever done to rectify its build up in the first place. While I take note that at least the bus driver had sense enough to separate the two, after hearing all of these events, I could think of only one question to ask my son. I took his little hands, looked into his little eyes and with anticipation I asked him...

"Well, son...did you win?"