A Life Lesson Learned – Part 2

Last week I set the stage for a showdown between myself and the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the school at which I worked. During the last class of the day, the chairman’s frustrated son had showed a clear lack of decorum when facing a failing grade on his exam. He was removed from my class and his dad showed up minutes after dismissal.

This dad was clearly upset that his son had been kicked out of my class and he wanted an explanation. The student had accompanied his dad, I presume to watch his dad take me to the cleaners, so to speak. His posture demonstrated that he was expecting something akin to a Roman gladiator taking on a worthy opponent.

When I admitted to having removed the boy from my class, the dad angrily asked why. I asked permission to pose a question of the father before explaining myself. The dad condescendingly agreed so I asked him to put himself in my place as the teacher and then tell me what he would do if his son called him a son of a “b”?

By now the student had noticeably changed his attitude. He knew his dad did not tolerate such language or behaviour. The dad responded, “I’d kill him!” (He really said that!) I responded, “Well, I did not kill him, but I did kick him out of my class.” If looks could kill, that young man was in serious trouble. I somewhat defended him by telling the dad I understood his frustration, but neither dad nor I thought the boy’s reaction was acceptable. I am sure he now thought the same.

To reduce the tension, I suggested that since the boy had disrespected me publicly, he could apologize publicly. It was Friday afternoon. By Monday last class, I had completely forgotten about the incident. Trying to get things going in class, the young man kept interrupting until in desperation he got up, came to the front of the classroom and publicly apologized for having disrespected me the Friday before.

This boy likely never mastered French, but he likely still remembers his French 30 class where he learned a lesson he will not forget.