It’s all about your principals
C attended two different kindergartens, because the first one we tried was so terrible. There was a little girl in his class who had Wilson’s Syndrome, which is an autism-like genetic illness that has at its base a high copper content in the body. I went in for lunch a number of times and sat with the kindergartners outside. Several of the kids were making fun of this little girl behind her back and saying very sophisticated and horrible things about her. Frankly, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to do or say given it was a Montessori school whose main tenet seemed to be that adults weren’t supposed to get involved in much of anything.
I later brought up the incident with the principal, while attempting to explain to him my concern about C’s future and his complete lack of friends in his class. Mr. M’s response was that this little girl often hit other kids and that explained why the kids didn’t like her and therefore made fun of her. It seemed completely okay with him that she was the brunt of vicious comments. This wasn’t my first clue that Mr. M was not the kind of person I held much respect for, but it was one of the most telling. It broke my heart that his answer to the problem was to blame the little girl instead of working with her aide to make sure the incidents lessened as well as perhaps helping the other children understand why she often lashed out.
The most damning moment for Mr. M, however, was the day after a particularly unpleasant IEP meeting. My emotions were raw as were my eyes from crying, and as I tried to get out of the school after dropping C off with a minimum of interaction with anyone, Mr. M called me into his office. As he was yelling at me, with door open, teachers, parents and students wandering in and out, he made a comment I will never forget. “I don’t care if C has any friends,” he screamed. “That is not my problem!”
This, from an elementary school principal. I understand it’s not in a principal’s job description to help children have friends, but that comment brought on a light bulb moment for me. We pulled C from that school right in the middle of the year and never looked back.
5 comments March 10, 2008
