It's a bit of an odd month with the Kim Clan. Aidan had some trouble at school recently with his teacher and I am at a loss to understand the man. A few weeks ago, my husband got a phone call where he was told that Aidan was under disciplinary action for swearing. My husband was shocked and questioned Aidan about the incident at school.
It turns out it is quite possibly the teacher and the system that should be put under disciplinary action. There was a girl in class who brushed up against Aidan and put her hand extremely close to his private parts. Aidan, of course, reacted to this, saying "Sexual assault!" The teacher noticed the interaction and asked the girl what she was doing. The girl, of course, denied everything, and the teacher took her side. This, apparently, pushed Aidan over the edge and profanities came out of his mouth. This incident had been a series in a long time of interactions with the teacher where Aidan's voice was not heard. I believe all of the frustrations of not having the teacher hear you or protect you proved too much for him.
Of course, Aidan was punished for swearing. He is an extremely bright kid who needs to take a little less pleasure in the insulting language he and his friends engage in.
It turns out that in Korean culture, when a child gets in trouble at school, he or she is required to write out what happened in the presence of the teacher and the principal. And this is what resulted with this incident. My husband seems to think that a parent should also be involved in this process. He made quite the point of asking Aidan a long series of questions to make sure he understood what had happened as clearly as possible. Aidan had to amend or change quite a bit of his statement.
Because this is a potential sexual harassment case, Hansung (my husband) made some phone calls. The calls were made to different authorities. Information was gathered. and Aidan was told to not sign any other documents at school.
The child had to defend himself to the Parents Advisory Council on Monday. He just kept repeating that he swore but he did not swear at the teacher.
Two days later, the teacher approached him about what he wrote. Aidan said he wasn't going to sign anything. The teacher told him to just read it. Apparently, Aidan corrected something, signed the paper, and sent it to his Dad.
My husband was not pleased that Aidan had signed the paper. We spent most of the evening trying to understand how Aidan had been manipulated until my husband just looked at him and said, "You are not somebody!" I believe he just wanted Aidan to acknowledge that he had not listened to his father.
That was a terrible night. I had three different things due at the end of the week. My mind had been in stuck in public policy for English Language learners until it was rudely interrupted with the ongoing saga of what was going on with Aidan.
And that is where we leave this unfortunately tale as it is not finished yet. And I just keep coming back to the stories Aidan told about his teacher before the whole thing happened and how nobody really liked him.
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On a much lighter note, Jordan brings a smile to my face with his little boy smile and little boy ways. I really love that he always runs up to me and gives me a hug when he sees me outside. He is always polite, saying goodbye to me in the morning and announcing when he has come home.
Jordan's teacher is pleased with his work at school and with him. His teacher is a Christian and commented to my husband about Jordan when they were doing street crossing duty in the morning.
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On a much lighter note, today is Justin's birthday. He turns 18. I just keep smiling when I realize that by Canadian law he is considered an adult. We will have a meal of pork ribs later today as this is what he asked for. Afterwards, there is a plan to go to Baskin Robbins 31 for ice cream. I am just praying that the positive energy from Justin's birthday is going to outweigh all the negative crap from this week.
On June 25th, eighteen years ago, I was at the doctor's for a prenatal check. We were back at the doctors just a few hours later. That beautiful boy was born in the evening around 8:00. I remember the angels dancing around the room when they placed that sweet bundle beside me in the recovery room. He was sleepy, but he smiled.
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What stories do you have about what is going on in your life? I would love to hear all about it!