Owing the Boy, an Apology

Looking back, realizing how you’d, used the wrong methods to, get him to behave better, translated…

After reading, “Meeting You at the Wrong Time” from April 16^th, it’d, made me feel, regrettable, because I was once, that enabler.

Back then, I was a third-year instructor, with that scent of fearlessness, that sharpened edge about me, with a full heart of passions toward teaching, held my too-high expectation for all my students.

I was teaching a class of third-grade students, there was a child who, in the second grade had been known for misbehaving in class, and got sent to the principal’s office so many times.  The child’s older sister was one of my students, and so, I’d, known of a thing or two about how he’d, misbehaved in class, and at home.

As I became a homeroom instructor, maybe he’d known that I was once his older sister’s teacher, at first, he was on, good behaviors and I’d, treated each student as beginners, best as I possibly could, taught them with all of my heart.

And yet, in no more than a month’s time, that kid started having problems, it’d made me run around all day long, I’d had to, delay the progress of the rest of the class, handing him.  And, in that era where the authoritarian beliefs about teaching was instilled, I’d felt that he’d, intentionally, challenged me, and finally one time, in the abacus lessons, I got mad at him, and told him, “Go kneel on your abacus!”

And that boy did what he was told.

teacher scolding a boy who’d, misbehaved…like this???  Photo from online

It wasn’t until that period was over, I’d finally recalled, that he was still, at the back of the classroom, kneels on his abacus, being punished, I’d immediately told him to stand up.  Although he’d only kneeled atop of his abacus for a little over ten minutes, but his legs and knees were, already bruised.  All I could do was to lead him to the nurse’s office, to get his knees fixed up, and called his parents to explain what happened.

And, maybe, the parents heard from their young, that I wasn’t a teacher who’d punished the students as I wished to, or that the parents understood how many times their young would, misbehave, either way, the parents never, blamed me severely.

Later, with my experiences in teaching, I’d learned step by step, how to, correctly, teach and discipline my students, and how to communicate with them, to establish that sense of connection, that support, and understood even better, how some of the special needs children are in need of, more attention, and professional help too.

That was, thirty odd years ago, and I’m now, retired, but, during the midnight hours, I’d, often recalled that boy, felt that I’d, owed him an apology, especially as I saw those “Excellent Teacher” certificates, it’d, made me ashamed.  I hope, that he can, feel how sorry I was back when.

So, this is a mistake that you’d made with a child, and it wasn’t your fault, you were, too inexperienced as a teacher, it was, your first year, and, maybe, you’d, impacted his life in a negative way, or maybe you hadn’t, because that kid sounded like a special needs child, and, you didn’t have the proper trainings to cope with such a student then, so, you became, this harsh disciplinarian, an authority figure.