Dear Queenie,
One day on my way to work, while waiting for the bus across from a school, I saw a scene in the school that I could not just simply ignore, maybe because I am a mother too.
I saw a teacher and a girl student talking outside the classroom. At first I thought it was just a simple conversation, but not until I heard a bad word in Papiamentu from the teacher.
I don’t speak the language, but I am fully aware that it is a bad word and it’s not right to use it in front of kids, especially if it’s coming from the mouth of a supposedly well-respected person like a teacher.
The teacher told the girl to go inside the classroom and then I saw this teacher hit the girl’s head in front of the whole class. She also hit her on the back and pushed her into the classroom.
Then the teacher started to talk to a boy student and started screaming, “No, I had enough of you,” and walked to her vehicle and drove it away.
This scene really broke my heart and I thank God my kids don’t attend that school. Doesn’t this teacher need to get reported to the school superintendent? How are parents still to trust teachers?
Advise me, Queenie.—Concerned parent
Dear Concerned parent,
Yes, if this teacher struck a student and used bad language to her, she should be reported to the proper authorities. However, it is the person who saw the incident who has to make the report; that is, you.
Furthermore, there are two sides to every story. You seem to have heard clearly enough what the teacher was saying. What were the students saying, and how were they behaving? Were they also using bad language? Behaving disrespectfully?
While I don’t condone a teacher behaving the way you describe, I am sadly aware that some schoolchildren these days could try the patience of a saint, let alone an overworked, underpaid pedagogue.
