Last night we got our cellphone bill via email. We had been anxiously awaiting this bill because it would show what numbers were called on Laura's cellphone which was stolen a month ago while she was school. There was one number that was called several times right after school got out. I did a reverse lookup on the number, but Laura did not recognize the name the phone was under. So she decided to call the number. Here is how the conversation went:
"Hi my name is Laura ...... I was wondering if you had a student at ...............Middle School?"
"Yes, my brother................"
"I am needing to get in touch with .........'s parents..are they there?"
"No, they aren't home."
"This is a rather urgent. Do you knwo when they will be home or if there is a number I can reach them at?"
"Sure. Our Mom can be reached at ............."
Laura then calls this student's Mother. Here is how the conversation went:
'Hi, May I speak with ................"
"This is she"
"Hi, My name is Laura....... and I am...........'s 7th grade English teacher. This is kind of a sticky situation. About a month ago my cellphone was stolen at school and I had to wait until the new bill came to get the numbers that were called. Your home number is the one number that was called several times after it was stolen"
"My son did not steal anything. I have no idea what you are talking about."
"I am not saying your son stole the phone, I am just saying that your home number is the one number that is coming up on the bill."
"I can't believe you would call me at work. Do you know what I do? I can not be bothered with this right now." (BTW..this students Mother works at McDonalds)
"I was just calling as a courtsey to let you know that the school is requiring me to file a police report about the phone being stolen and your number is the only calls that were placed after the phone was stolen."
"We will have to discuss this tomorrow. I can not be bothered at work"
The Mother of this student then hung up. Here is my view on this situation. First of all, this Mother was acting like she was the fucking mayor and could not be disturbed. She works at fucking McDonalds. Someone else can take those fries out of the fryer. Second..if my parents ever received a phone call from my teacher saynig their phone had been stolen and our home number was the ONE number that showed up..my parents would fucking kill me. They would leave work and kick my ass in front of the entire school. They would have never doubted anything my teachers were saying.
When Laura got to school today she did not receive any support from some of the teachers on her team. She is required to make a police report in order for us to reinbursed for the phone. I think if the Mother of this child had more willing to work with us maybe we would not go to the police. But after talking with the Mother, we are making a police report. The school is not doing anything to the student because they have no "proof" that he actually stole it. Well, here's the thing..if he didn't steal it, he knows who did because whoever stole it was trying to call him at his house. When this little bastard is hauled off to juvie maybe his Mother will be willing to talk then. Too late. We are teaching kids a very harmful lesson. These kids are being taught that there are no consequences to their actions and behaviors. They are learning that they can do whatever the fuck they want and it just doesn't matter. We are going to end up with a whole generation that just doesn't care. Well, I think we are halfway there. Soon these kids will be running our country. Do we want these little fuckups to be running our country? I sure don't.
Every single day I have people in their 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's walking through my door that never learned the lesson of consequences. I bet all these individuals learned this when they were 12 or 13.
We are doing a HUGE injustice to kids today. They need to realize that when you do something there are consequences. Not punishing this student of Laura's is teaching him that he can do whatever the fuck he wants..and it just doesn't matter. We'll see what the police think about that.
8 comments:
Amen! Who else would be calling that kid's mom? His siblings? Good for you for filing a report.
You, my dear, are preaching to the choir. Many people do not want to be held accountable for their behaviors, yet feel strongly entitled for any perceived slight. More significantly, mom does not want to be accountable for her child's behaviors-- too bad. It does, however, say something about job security for those of us in the human services...
Kinda like looking in a mirror, isn't it?
The mom was acting like a b*tch. I'm sorry, if Laura called me and told me my son stole her phone, the boy would be ground and I'd be apologizing to laura until she got sick of me.
nap queen--filing a report is the only way he will learn anything
anonymous1--people have to learn how to be accountable..this child will never learn
anonymous2--not too sure what you mean there..would you be so kind and enlighten us to what you are really trying to say
isabel--it's amazing how some of the parents are worse then the kids
What is wrong with parents these days. I would have been in sooo much trouble, even if I didn't steal the phone but knew who did. It always floors me to hear stories like this. I guess I have a scewed sense of reality, I have surrounded myself with people like me. If Laura had called to tell me that my kid had done something like that, she would have my undivided attention and cooperation.
Kids need to learn. I think many parents are too afraid to actually discipline their children and thereby miss a tremendous teaching/learning opportunity. People need to accept responsibility and have consequences. You can bet if this was my son I'd be all over him getting the truth and setting this straight. What a shame this child will not have the opportunity to learn right from wrong. It sure doesn't sound like the mom has interest in raising a responsible human being.
I wish I could sya that I can't believe the mother would act like that, but unfortunately, tha'ts probably why the kid is stealing; especially if he's not being held accountable/responsbile for his actions. Filing hte report is a GOOD thing. The boy has to learn to be responsiblef or his actions. If not now, then when he's older he'll probably end up in prison.
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