When my son was in kindergarten, he attended a cozy little private Quaker school. Parent-teacher conference time rolled around, and I was prepared for the usual feedback: M's a social butterfly, eager to soak up knowledge, but struggles to keep still during circle time, etc. My main worry? Tackling the bullying issues he'd been facing with one kid since day one, which I'd already raised with the school a handful of times.
I was in for quite a surprise.
Instead of diving into the bullying, the teachers said they wouldn’t be discussing that because according to them it wasn’t happening. They claimed they had zero evidence to back up my son's claims (months later found out they hadn't even asked the other child involved and when they finally did ask the child admitted to everything M had been saying). The teachers instead went on to tell me that they were happy to have found solutions for M’s attention and academic issues that they had never told me about. Their solution was to remove him from the group. They continued saying he struggles in group settings, and he was behind across the board academically. "School's too much for him," they said.
I was floored.
Before I knew it, the call was over, and they were rushing us off so they could move on to the next family.
That meeting marked the beginning of the end for M at that school. Honestly, the downhill journey started the moment he stepped into kindergarten, but this was the first time we realized there was a real problem. For months, our poor boy had been isolated, treated differently, and fed negative messages about his abilities behind our backs, with no evidence or collaboration with experts.
Those months took a toll on his self-esteem, a wound we're still working to heal even two years later.
Fast forward to the end of this saga, and it turns out M was indeed being bullied mercilessly. It was eating away at him, affecting his confidence and focus in class. And instead of digging deeper to understand what was really going on, his teachers just removed him from the group based on his outward behavior.
Sadly, our story isn't unique. There are countless families out there facing similar battles every year. That's why I launched Fáilte. For those kids who don't quite fit the mold of the traditional education system. The ones who need that extra something – extra love, space, understanding, time, or flexibility – to truly thrive and flourish.
ความคิดเห็น