Keatkeat passed my letter to his teacher on Friday. That same day, late afternoon, he called. For readers who missed my post “Making It Official“, Keatkeat = Zac.

Mr L.: “Hi, this is Mr L., Zac’s teacher. Are you Zac’s mother?”

Me: “Yes.”

Mr L.: “I received the letter, but this is the first time I heard of this.”

Me: “But Zac told me that he told you before in the past.”

Mr L.: “No. I do not remember this happening.”

Me: “Nevermind, that is not important. What’s important is what are you going to do about this?”

Mr L.: “I think it is only fair to listen to both sides of the story. I asked JD already and he admitted that he stepped on Zac’s feet. However, JD also told me that Zac purposely walked slowly and blocked him from going forward. That made JD frustrated, which made him retaliate.”

(which is the same thing JD told Keatkeat in their first confrontation in this post “Both Have Their Reasons“)

Mr L. continued: “So I think it is fair that I should give both a chance. Of ‘cos, any physical harm is wrong, but warning has been given to JD. If he does it again, then I will take actions.”

Me: “Is it necessary to wait for Zac to come home limping again or trip and fall before you can take such a simple action of changing their position in the line?”

Mr L.: “Both of them are around the same height. If I put JD at the back with the big boys, it does not look nice as a whole class. And I think everyone should be given a warning first before action is taken. As this is the first time I am hearing this, I think it would be fair that I observe first.”

he paused for a while and continued…

“Please do not hesitate to call me if Zac complains to you again, THEN I will take actions.”

Like I have said in my very first blog post on this topic, ‘Both‘ have their reasons for doing what they do. I know why Mr L. chose to do that, because I was a teacher in the past, I know the consequences if he just change the position.

JD’s parents would probably say something like, “Why do you trust Zac only? If Zac walks slowly on purpose, it is only normal that JD gets frustrated. So the problem maker is Zac.”

At the same time, I think my letter to him is necessary.

It acts as a warning to Mr L. that if it does happen again and Keatkeat has a fall or hurt himself *touch wood*, I am going to hold him responsible because he rejected my simple suggestion of changing their positions.

Period.

 

Enough is Enough! (part 2: Teacher’s Response)