My commuter destination, the Redwood City Caltrain station, is adjacent to a strip mall close to Sequoia High School. Many teenagers hang out in the area after school.
I once watched mall security order a group of kids to disperse and observed the teens’ faces as they were Hassled Yet Again For Doing Nothing. They were confused, frustrated, and annoyed. The adults ignored their protests of innocence.
After insisting the kids get lost, the rental cops strolled blindly past two 20-somethings engaged in an obvious drug deal.
That night I slept much better knowing I was professionally safeguarded from A Major Threat to Security: flirting sixteen year olds.
Last night my son’s high school principal sent email to all parents:
I am really sorry to inform you that today we made the decision to postpone our annual camping trip. We are hoping to reschedule the trip in the second semester. This was a very difficult decision that we did not take lightly. There was an incident last week at school that involved some students drinking beer in the boys bathroom. While this was the primary incident that drove this decision, it was not the only factor.
I asked my son what this was all about.
What happened was that two cans of Bud Light were found crumpled up in a toilet. more >
One day early in Fifth Grade, my son said he was bullied during recess. The other child and his posse informed Courtland and his friend they were not allowed on the school field. My son was learning Karate and aimed a roundhouse kick at the bully’s head. He missed.
I was not impressed.
He argued self-defense to no avail. I said putting his foot near anyone’s face was unacceptable and discussed alternative options should he find himself in that situation at school again. First on the list? Find an adult. more >
When my son started Kindergarten in the PACT alternative program at Slater School in 1998, I was a stay-at-home mother and took my sweet time bringing him to class in the morning. “It’s only Kindergarten, it’s not a big deal.”
Courtland was frequently ten to fifteen minutes late. I wasn’t the only offender; a handful of us drifted in at our leisure.
After a month or so, the teacher privately told me The Office was going to start calling the police. Her delivery was pitch-perfect. She explained it wasn’t her choice, that she wasn’t singling me out, and that she knew no one was trying to disrupt class or break the law. She said she didn’t want me to unintentionally burn myself. more >
When I hear alternative school proponents wax poetic about every child’s innate enthusiasm for learning, my eyes glaze over. Not my kid.
Courtland was a classic Type A Perfectionist with Profound Performance Anxiety. New situations and activities made him hyperventilate. After age one, he resisted anything that made him feel uncomfortable, including the sippy cup. When he was three we signed him up for soccer and he was the only kid on the field who ran from the ball.
His apple didn’t fall far from my tree; as a baby, I cried when my mother rearranged my bedroom furniture. more >
I first read this alt.peeves post in 1994 when my son was a baby. Now he’s a Senior in high school. I became That Mother.
Forwarded-by: bostic@CS… (Keith Bostic)
Forwarded-by: good@p…. (Craig Good)
From: finch@M… (Deirdre Sholto-Douglas)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
<sigh> Your comment reminds me of one of the run ins I’ve had with the school psychologist. After our disscussion, I’ve gained a reputation of being unreasonable and my daughter has gained the freedom to construct anything short of atomic bombs without psychological interference. more >
The other day, my seventeen year old son, Courtland, gave craigslist posters an eyeful.
I did not ask him to contribute to that discussion and was stunned when I saw the message. My husband said, “Wow, his writing has really improved.”
I was moved by his emotional generosity towards me, his stepfather, his stepbrother, and other children. He was so brazen I had to laugh, but he was also honest: Karen Green doesn’t quit when kids’ rights are on the line. I learn, get smarter, and shift strategies. more >
Posted to the thread I started on the local craigslist Education forum:
This is not my best piece of social engineering, but it yielded good results.
Now I have some data documenting a small spectrum of attitudes towards the illegal behavior we saw. When I asked Stevenson School parents for help, they shunned me, so I never got a real sense of why.
Shunning me was an interesting choice since I volunteered for them for over eleven years and saved them significant amounts of money on schwag through my job at a screen printer. They came back to me twice afterwards expecting assistance and discounts and seemed surprised when I fired them as customers. They more or less told my husband it was OK for a mental health professional to lie to him about his own child. more >
