Soapbox

So I’ve got this kid…. and I decided that he’s mine, damnit, and I’ll do with him as I want.

Stephen is a child who has unique abilities, and unique challenges. We’ve known this since he was two and was already learning how to read but was afraid of "big strong potties" and jello. He’s in middle school now, which is not an environment known for nurturing the unique. In fact, it pretty much is the educational equivalent of Godzilla meets Bambi: Thanks for coming ~squish~

He has been having a rough time of it for the last year and a half. He’s had some good teachers who tried to understand him, and some things have gone well, but he’s been mostly miserable, and I only recently found out how miserable. How could I not have known?

For a variety of administrative and stupidity reasons, dicipline at his school is almost non-existant. The kids who don’t want to be there and don’t want to learn run the show, and a weird, brainy, non-athletic dreamer kid like Stephen is raw meat for this crowd. He was harrassed and tormented on a daily basis. It came to a head in early December when he came home limping one day: his knee was swollen and he had bruises from a beating he had taken in the gym that morning. When I talked to the assistant principal about it she said "You know, you could press charges against these kids."
"Well I could… IF anyone knew who they were!" I retorted angrily. Each morning when the kids arrive they are herded into the gym to await the first bell. The doors are shut and teachers patrol the hallway outside to make sure no one escapes…but there is no adult in the gym to prevent a Lord of the Flies situation from occurring! It’s like a zookeeper locking the lions in with the gazelles and standing guard outside to make sure no gazelles try to make a run for it. I guess it takes a degree in education to come up with an idea that stupid.
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