School is back in session and the absence of the norm is present. Driving into the schools parking lot I noticed that the crossguards weren't there. This alone set the tone on how these budget cuts have affected us in our own neighborhood. The lack of maintenance on the school's property becomes apparent as I'm walking up to the office. There was litter on the sidewalks, the glass windows were smudged with fingerprints and god only knows how long they were there - it was bad. I thought to myself 'ok, they can't afford to hire someone to clean up before the first day, maybe they'll clean it themselves.' It's just something we all have to adjust to... Then wondered what else we'd have to adjust to.
Later that day after picking up the kids, I did the usual "How was your day, what did you guys do?" My daughter, being a girl, went on and on about her day that I really didn't get a chance to sit and talk with my little guy. It's a good thing she kept running her mouth on our way home because if I wouldve heard what my son had to tell me I probably would have got into an accident.
When I finally got the chance to speak with my son and ask him how his day had gone. He just burst into tears and said that he didn't want to go back to school, and that he wanted to go to a different school - He's 7. After asking him why he explained to me that during his recess, there was this boy in his class who pushed him onto the grass, then another boy came and removed his shoe and started playing hot potato with it. My son said that he tried to get up but the boy was on top of him and choking him. He mentioned that he tried to get up but couldn't and was hanging onto the grass beneath him and using that to try and pull himself up but he couldnt breath. Then he said that he got "super mad" and pushed him off and ran to try and find a yard duty but he couldn't. The bell rang and he told his teacher once he got in. The teacher diciplined the child by having him turn his card from Green(good) to Orange (bad). Really that's all this kid gets? Where were the yard duties? This is a serious incident that could've been prevented if a yard duty was present. It's a good thing that my son got "super mad" and got the strength to push off the little bastard. I can't imagine if he had completely passed out because of this. I took it upon myself to report this incident to his teacher, then to the principle - just to make sure I was heard.
My son, who's 7, had to learn that day how to fend for himself. Later, my husband taught him how defend himself if he should ever be in that situation again. They practiced for at least 2 hours. My son looked a little more confident about going to school the next day. And, when he was saying his goodnights he gave the biggest most sincere hug to my husband that I have ever seen him give.
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