Let me start with an OMG! Who are these parents who are sending they children to us?  Where did they come from and why were they permitted to have children in the first place?  I had to suspend B for 2 days.  He is a bully and a little bit of a psychopath.  He enjoys torturing the odd students.  In fact, he is famous on our playground.  He is the students the good kids try, I repeat TRY, to stay away from.  He is also the student all the naughty boys sort of suck up to and they hang out.  Wouldn't you know it?  He is a leader!  I just wish it wasn't in this arena.  He is also destructive, mouthy, sneaky, rude, obnoxious and that is the beginning.

Now, back to the suspension.  He was torturing a student in my class and was removed from class.  His parents email me yelling at me because he has to be home alone for two days.  Number one, that is illegal and I should have called the police.  And number two, it is not my frigging problem.  If they had raised him better he would not have been suspended in the first place.  Who do these parents think they are?  If they want me to raise their children, then give them up legally to me and stop making me do their job.

I am here to educate children.  I am here to make sure they are safe during school hours, give them the best possible chance at succeeding and hopefully make them feel successful when they are.

I am NOT here to give them a false sense of self-esteem by praising their every effort even when it is crap.  I am not here to respect them unless they EARN that respect.  I am not here to give them love and attention (although I do).  When you have 43 4th graders in your classroom you don't have time for one-on-one anything.  I am not here to help them with their homework because Mom and Dad were too tired.  I am not a psychologist able to treat the problems of the many.  (And boy are there many.)  I am not in charge of manners, character, clothing design and fashion, or any of the miriad things that they come to school with.  These are parent responsibilities.  Parents need to take their jobs more seriously.  I can tell parents who care and support from the "Others".  Oddly enough, we are the ones who get the blame when their child is naughty.  Like VT "Why didn't the school do something?"  What can they do?  He was an adult.  I can't even get rid of a bully from my class or school and you wonder why Kids go Columbine on us? 

I read an article blaming teachers because they don't control the bullies.  How do we do that if the administration won't suspend, or expel them for us. We just keep the kid in class because it is easier than sending them to the office and having them return with a smile a little later.  I would rather he be under my nose than playing in the office.

I raised my kids.  I wasn't perfect but they are grown and wonderful people now.  I took pride in there accomplishments, went to school functions (even before I was a teacher), made a fuss of them, fought with them, and was happy the day they finally left home for the wide blue yonders.  But, I DID MY JOB as a parent.  And they return to my home occasionally and visit.  (Good set up)