Drama at School

Without going into details and invading the privacy of one of my dear children, I'll tell you that we had an "incident" today at school. I immediately went into crazy mom mode (aka Mama Bear Syndrome), but after texting with my son during lunch, I understand more fully how things were handled.

It sounds like the support that I would have hoped that he had from the teacher and administration was absolutely the case. Do I think my kid was blatant in his disobedience? No. Do I think the admin/teacher thinks he was blatant? No. An infraction was committed from the teacher's perspective. It was however, handled with the upmost care and concern for the wellbeing of my newly transplanted teenager. I am grateful for that.

He is learning the new system. He is learning the new expectations. He is making new friends, trying to understand a new language, a new culture. He is trying to make sense of his new world here. Add to that the new incredibly enormous academic load and mix it up with teenage hormones and the poor kid has got to be overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it.

He's overly independent. He's got to learn to tap into the resources he has available to him. LET us help you. Ask for assistance from the teachers - they are there to help. This is one of the reasons they give kids 20 minutes between classes. Not so that they have time to hang with friends, but so that they can get immediate feedback and assistance from their teachers. There are 12-15 kids in each class and teachers only have 4 classes a day. With numbers like that, real help can be given. Individual attention can be given. Yes, papers look different here. Yes, teachers are going to pour over every single line you write. Just giving the right answer isn't enough. You have to expound on everything. Details, details, details. When they say they expect 4-6 hours of homework every night - they expect to see the results of 4-6 hours of homework in your submitted work. Otherwise, it's not enough.

"I've never have been more scared for my education in my life", is a direct quote from our texting. Better to learn these lessons now. Figuring it out now will allow him to have a solid foundation for college in the very near future. I have faith in him. I know without a doubt that he can not only meet, but exceed the expectations laid out for him here. This time of growing and learning will not be easy, but if we can convince him to seek assistance in all the shapes and forms it is offered to him, I think he'll have an easier time in the long run.