Being kind...

We often forget that teachers are people just like everyone else. It can be a very rewarding job, but it can also be a very tough job.

My daughter had a possible health problem when she was a teenager and I was asked to take her to a specialist as soon as possible. They arranged an appointment for the next morning. My daughter was worried because she was supposed to have a French test the next morning. I told her not to worry as the teacher will understand the importance of this appointment.

The next morning, on my way to the hospital, I stopped by her school and told her to go and talk to her French teacher about the situation. She comes back and tells me the teacher is upset and told her that she will get zero on the test. I thought my daughter didn’t explain the situation properly and went up to talk to the teacher myself. Now, I understand why the teacher was skeptical about my daughter’s excuse as the test was planned weeks ago. I explained to the teacher that my daughter had a very serious accident the day before and was told to see a specialist first thing this morning. The teacher would not budge. Now, the teacher was being unreasonable and I could have made a scene and get the teacher in a big trouble (the principal of the school was a friend of mine) but I just cordially said,” I see, that’s fine”, grabbed my daughter’s hand and left. My daughter was stunned. I told my daughter that the teacher has some big problems that we should not make it worse by adding more problems.

Near the end of the school year, my daughter told me that her French teacher had a mental breakdown and had to be hospitalized. I was glad I didn’t contribute to her problems, and, I believe, my daughter learned a big lesson on compassion and human frailty. Be kind to teachers, folks. More and more, they are having to deal with complex issues and still educate a fairly large group of students.