Snitching Ain't Easy

I have a new student that I'm counseling this spring. Our focus in on his anger management skills. He doesn't have any. When he reaches his boiling point, he becomes belligerent with adults, and has a huge persecution complex. Earlier this week, he had an incident involving two girls in his class. According to him, these girls are targeting him and threatening to hit him. One of the girls hit him with a stick at recess. My student became upset of course, but did not tell any of the recess aides. He went on to class and later another girl pushed him into her friend's desk, causing my student to take out the desk and causing a huge commotion. My student had enough and went to approach her when his teacher recognized what was going on and stepped between them. My student was sent to the office to cool off.

When I saw him he told me what happened. He even told me about getting hit with the stick earlier. I asked him why he didn't report any of this to an adult, and he said that nothing ever happens. The kid is actually quite bright because we discussed the reasons for the girls to keep bothering him. He said that they know he would get into major trouble for hitting a girl. So he knew how the consequences would be worse for him. He felt that he couldn't tell any of the recess aides what happened because they wouldn't do anything. He also that the girl would probably call him a snitch for telling.

This just about made my blood boil. The whole snitching thing bothers me because kids get confused and actually endanger themselves because they don't want to be seen as snitches. It doesn't make sense. I hate how the word has changed in meaning. It used to mean someone who was also a criminal reporting someone else's crime for a reduced punishment. Since when did it mean a victim that reports a crime committed against him or her?

I feel like lecturing everyone in my building about what it means to be a snitch. Endangering yourself in the hopes of not being a snitch is idiotic, and I want to work on changing the understanding of the word. Somehow the misunderstood meaning has become the de facto definition and it has remarkably impacted how kids deal with bullying and violence in school. My hope is that I can change that somehow.

BBC

When Education and Politics Collide

I attended a town council meeting to discuss the proposed budget cuts to education. As a result of the mayor's budget, the school system would have to lay off 27 teachers, cut sports, gifted, and arts programs, and possibly eliminate a school. The meeting was a parade of the town's brightest students pleading with the council to save the gifted program. After about 8 or 9 students spoke about what TAG meant to them, the artsy students spoke about their programs. Some high schoolers spoke about their sports teams. Then some teachers spoke and they were followed finally by parents. The meeting got contentious when the fire marshall declared that there were too many people in the building, and asked those who had spoken to leave. Some obliged. I was only there for about an hour, but it was interesting to see the various factions lobby for their interests. Few people spoke about the possible changes that would affect a large number of students. Closing a school or eliminating a classroom in each school would have a profound effect on classroom sizes, but for the first hour that wasn't mentioned. The town council will make a decision by June. That gives plenty of time for more drama and sudden twists to this saga. The fate of education for the foreseeable future in this town is in their hands.

BBC

Seniority

This should have posted on 3/27/09 - (sorry)

Yesterday we had parent-teacher conferences, where parents come in to discuss their children's report cards. This meant that the students only had a half-day of school. Technically, staff had the rest of the afternoon off and we had to report back to school by 5:45 for the conference, but I stuck around a little bit late and tried to finish some work. I headed home, walked and fed the dog, relaxed and then headed back to school at around a quarter after 4. I arrived, checked my mailbox and ran into my principal. She told me that she needed to talk to me, so I followed her to her office. Usually when she says that she needs to speak with me, it's usually about a student and she wants me to follow up on an issue. So it came as a shock that the subject of our conversation would be me.

We sat down and she told me that she had just returned from an administrators' meeting with the superintendent. The topic was the education budget that the board of ed submitted to the mayor. The mayor has cut almost $1.7 million from the education budget. The superintendent basically told everyone to prepare for the worst. In order to adjust for the deficit, she would consider everything from closing schools, redistricting, or eliminating classes. It would be brutal if it went through. In preparation for the worst, the superintendent announced 27 people would be laid off. This number included one new teacher in each school, and one new person in each department. My principal told me this and then asked me the question that gave me a chill, "Are you the last person hired in your department?"

At first I had to think about it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I remembered that a colleague left her position last year and someone was fired a few months after I was hired. My feeling of comfort was short-lived when my principal outlined how some people would get lay-off notices and mentioned that anyone on leave would be guaranteed their position. Well, what did that mean? I knew that there was one school psychologist out for an extended leave, so then, would they eliminate 2 positions? Then I started to worry again. We have someone out for an extended leave, so if she returns, does that mean I need to start looking for another job?

I went home and tried not to think about it but it was hard. I ended up trying to keep my mind occupied, but it didn't work. I kept vacillating between "I'm going to be laid off" and "It won't be me on the list." My principal had a meeting the next day, where the list of faculty was released to the administrators. When she arrived at school she broke the news to me-I was not on the list.

That day I learned a valuable lesson: always know your seniority. My principal showed me a list (where was I supposed to know where to find it) of every employee in the district by order of seniority. I was third from the bottom, so I think I'll be safe for a while. In the end, someone from my department decided to retire at the end of the year, so in a way everyone was spared.

BBC