The Other Parents Showed an Immense Concern, Filed in the Complaints Repeatedly, the Child Who Lives in a High-Risk Environment Was Called Out by the Teacher in the Front of the Whole Class

A sensitive matter here, and, it’s sometimes, really hard, to know what to do, and how to convey things, to a group of elementary school kids! From the Newspapers, translated…

There was a certain second-grade girl in a public school in the city of Taipei, whose family is listed as domestic violence high-risk, and yet, the homeroom instructor described to the whole class, the child’s home situations, there were the other parents of the girl’s classmates who’d felt, that the teacher hadn’t handled the matter very well, that it may hurt the child all over again, they’d filed a complaint against the instructor, the school promised to give the instructor consultations, and sent the officials to her class to observe her when she teaches the students.

The paper received the complaints from parents, that a pair of twin girls, who were suspected of being overtly disciplined by their parents, that at the end of last year, their family was registered as a high-risk family. In mid-March this year, the twins showed up with bruises to school, the homeroom instructor wrote on the assignment books to communicate her concerns to the parents, but, the page was, torn off, the teacher had, suspected that the parents had, torn the page off.

Afterwards, the homeroom instructor waited until the older girl went to the counselor’s office at school, she’d, described the twin’s living conditions at home, how their parents had, torn up their assignment books, and told the children, that if similar things were happening to them, they should tell the teachers so they can get help, and, that happened, when the younger sister of the twins who were abused physically was sitting right there, at the front of the class.

The parents who’d called it in heard her own child described what had happened, she’d believed, that the teacher’s heart was in the right place, but, she’d, behaved, inappropriately. The parent said, that his child saw the homeroom instructor yanked off the mask the older girl was wearing, and threatened that if she doesn’t take it off, she would get a ZERO for the assignment she was working on. He’d told what his child saw in school, and the school promised they will console with the instructor about it.

But, the parent who’d made the complaint also heard his son told, that the teacher openly scolded the younger of the two girls, said that it was her fault, that her older sister was being punished. He’d called the 1999 hotlines, and reported the incident to the Department of Education, hoping that they could somehow, investigate on the matter further, but the Department of Education only phoned the school to show their concerns, and not long thereafter, the man who’d called it in received a call, that the matter’s, resolved.

The homeroom instructor denied being verbally abusive, and that she’d pulled on the child, stated that she’d only wanted to see how bad the student was injured, but was misconstrued as pulling on her, and, that she’d not scolded the younger girl in front of the whole class, that she’d pulled the younger of the two girls to her quietly, and told her, that she needs to come to her for help if something were to happen at home, but her actions were, misinterpreted, and twisted, “I feel hurt”.

The school said, that it will enforce the teachers’ knowledge on the protections of children and adolescents, but, many of the complaints were secondhand from the students, that it’s, quite different from what the teacher told of what had happened, the instructor who was complained on is very focused in teaching, that it must be this miscommunication between the parents and instructors, that they are working to improve that. The Department of Education stated, that the teacher can make more improvements, but there wasn’t any need, to put the children who were living in situations of domestic violence under even more stress, that if needed, they’re going to step in, to investigate the matter further.

The parent who’d filed the complaints suspected, that it’s disheartening, that the Department of Education ruled the matter as a “miscommunication error”, without looking into the matters further. The school pushed forth more measures, including having the non-teaching staff to observe the class, and to increase the counseling of the students who need it.

And so, we still can’t tell, if abuse of any sort had happened inside this classroom, because we can’t go by the parent’s complaints to the Department of Education or the school, after all, they weren’t in the classrooms when the incident had, happened, it was their young who’d bore witness to everything, and, the teacher should’ve been more sensitive on the matter, but, that, is just something that’s, difficult to weigh in on, because unless it happened to your own class, you would NEVER know how you’re going to act, and, the teacher was trying to raise awareness of what was happening to the twins, her intentions were good and just, it’s that her methods of conveying could’ve been less clearly stated.