I'm not sure what I am most upset about right now...
My daughter and her friend for making prank calls on Friday night, or the reaction of a teacher at my eldest daughters school whose number was randomly dialed.
This morning I was woken by a phone call from my eldest daughter, crying hysterically, completely unsure why she was even in trouble. Her home room teacher called her out of the class and took her to the sheriff, as he believed he received a phone call from her on Friday night. He has the voicemail that was left on his phone from my home number, and what appears to be my eldest cchilds voice in the background.
What he actually has, is my middle child's friend trying to disguise her voice, and my middle child in the background asking her friend what she was saying. The issue is, even though my eldest daughter was not even home that night, so could not possibly have made the call, her homeroom teacher is convinced it was her, and that it was a malicious act worthy of being taken to the sheriff.
While I completely understand the coincidence of this man being my eldest daughters teacher, and the fact that a prank call being made at all is not the best behavior, these girls are 12 years old. Is it really a 'malicious act' that needs to be taken to the police? I think not.
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From the other side of the teacher's desk, we live in a time when the most innocuous action and/or comment by a student can become a sudden violent act that changes lives. Studies have connected children who kill pets to adults who kill people, so, perhaps, there is a reaction to little things that we used to take for granted that may seem disproportionate to the child/parent, such as a "harmless" prank call.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, 12-year-old children are way too savvy in ways that parents often brush off. Although I understand your protective reaction to the prank calls, it seems pretty obvious to me that the children targeted this man because he is one of their teachers. Our little girls see actors doing inappropriate things to their teachers in the media, and it often begins with what seems to be a harmless prank that can end a teacher's career.
Therefore, react, Mother Lionness -- but have some serious conversations with the cubs. Make them understand that what seems on the surface to be a funny prank becomes part of their permanent student file. Explain to them the consequences of even a "harmless" comment in this day and age: awareness is protection for them, too.