Why

[marigot]

I hate why questions, especially the hard ones that come from my kids. One of my girls told the Art teacher that she hated her this morning. Which then, of necessity, prompted A Talk. It was prefaced by me saying that she doesn’t have to like all the teachers in our school, but that she does have to be polite and respectful to them. And left me

Comments

[torrilin]

Odds are, she hates the other teacher because the other teacher is rude to her. (or worse) That gives you a starting point... the teacher's bad behavior makes the student feel bad, and the reactions she's having are entirely normal and sane. The trick is to get her to see that being just as bad makes for a net increase in people wanting to kill each other... which is not conducive to long life and her general welfare.

This is something that is easier for parents to teach, so if you can enlist her parents, I would. Without reinforcement at home, it will take a long time to sink in (if ever).

[torrilin]

It's a tough situation all the way around. This is a (legally) blind student that I've spent the last four years teaching to advocate for herself. Unfortunately she sometimes takes that as implied permission to say whatever pops into her head without thought for anyone else's feelings or for what constitutes "proper" behavior!