(Untitled)

[rock_wren]

What do you do to the sixteen year old who elaborately and at great length mocks the severely depressed and potentially learning disabled student? I am so deeply annoyed, but am afraid that if I call attention to the mocking it will swell, or at very least embarrass the victim. All I can do is cut him off once I realize where he is going with

Comments

[v3g4n]

Geez, I'm not sure what you can do... especially as a sub. Is there a way you could address it in class, a way that embarrasses him in front of his peers? I know that sounds petty, but sometimes it's the way to go when it's the language that person understands.

And can you talk to the other kid, tell him that you recognize it is happening, that you know it is not okay, and that the other kid is severely lacking in empathy?

I have some ridiculous bullying going on in my class as well.

[v3g4n]

The bully is 1/32 Haida- apparently enough to respond to angry teachers with the line" you're just saying that because I'm brown." It's an interesting response: he may be status, but his skin is white as snow. He has pulled this line on Steve, who teaches him science, a few times. It can causes the rest of the Haida kids in the class (70%ish) to side with him against the white kid he is picking on and the white teacher telling him to stop.

I try to talk to the kid who is getting picked on, but his learning disability make English hell for him so he mostly avoids me. Before this subbing stint, I had actually worked with him three or four times at the alternate school where he is a mentor/volunteer. He is waaay happier there (and with the grade 8s) than he is in class. It makes me sad. That group of kids is mean- and because there are only 25 kids in grade 10 in this area, they are stuck together all the time.