New Moon?

I'll admit that I used this title to get some hits from prepubescent girls looking for the latest on the Twilight sequel. However, I'm referring to something entirely different.

A teacher knocked on my door and told me she had something for me to see. She showed me a card that was obviously made by a student. She told me that the student handed it to her first thing this morning. It was a sheet of plain white paper, folded in half. On the front flap it read: Happy Day of School Happy. I should mention that this child is on the Autism Spectrum. Anyway, she pointed out the fact that someone, we assumed the mother, corrected the spelling and superimposed the correct letters on the card. Inside the card was picture of the boy with his shorts to his ankles, baring his butt for the camera. It was a bit shocking, and quite funny. And of course, really inappropriate. The teacher asked me what was she supposed to do with this information. I told her that she had to call the mother and tell her that he gave her the card. Upon further investigation, I realized that it was likely that the mother took the picture. There was a finger in the frame of the shot, and I could make out a long fingernail. The picture looked like it had been printed at the drugstore; definitely not printed from home, unless they have a great photo printer. Anyway, I was convinced that his mother was somehow involved in the creation of this card, and felt that the teacher needed to confront her.

She ended up showing the principal and social worker the card. The card made the social worker's day (see previous post). I predicted that the mother would first say that the card was hilarious, then agree that the card was inappropriate, then say that she had absolutely nothing to do with it. Before the teacher called, she informed us that recently the mother had mentioned that the boy wished to take a picture of his butt and give it to her. The teacher asked her not to let that happen. I think her exact words were, "Please don't." I guess mom didn't get the hint.

Of course when the teacher called, mom denied having any involvement. She claimed that she helped with the card's cover, but wasn't aware of what was on the inside. She also said that he used the self-timer on the camera to take the picture. That just wasn't true because you can clearly see someone's finger at the edge of the picture. Also, I'm not sure he has the skills to use the self-timer on a camera.

The bottom line is: Mom is weird. This isn't the first sign of abnormal behavior. She obviously thought this was hilarious, and when called on it, denied her involvement. The good thing was that my principal recognized that the boy really had no idea what he was doing. At the very least, he didn't understand how inappropriate that gesture was. Talk about a bad influence.

BBC