how accurate I was being in nicknaming Kinokawa JHS ‘the Zoo’. The second years are the absolute worst, though the first years are training up a real treat. Yesterday it took three teachers to teach one class. Today I discovered the hard way that all teachers leave Akamatsu san alone to do what she likes in class. Any teacher daring to discipline her is looking for for a beating. I was hit (not hard), had a basket thrown at me numerous times (I deflected with my hand), and had the teachers desk pushed into me. As well, the classroom door was kicked out, everything on the teachers desk strewn across the room, teachers desk knocked over and too many kicks towards me, the other teacher, chairs, desks and walls to count.
What did I do to initiate this? I took her purikura book off her because she was turned the other way, being noisy and absolutely ignoring us.
I kicked her out. She came back. I kicked her out again. Finally the other teacher was able to convince her to go elsewhere (I don’t know where and I don’t care)
The class conitnued, everyone rather shocked (I fully yelled at her and physically pushed her out of the classroom when kicking her out) They asked why I didn’t talk in Japanese because none of them could understand what I said. I told them I was too mad to speak in japanese and that I do not have that sort of japanese ability.
I made it through the class, shaking like anything.
I come back and immediately start writing – it’s either this or start crying, but I think I’m losing that battle. Tombana sensei brought Akamatsu san in to apologise – the most pathetic excuse for an apology ever. She claimed she didn’t know what she’d done wrong so why was she apologising. I let it go. Then Tombana sensei and two others explain to me that Akamatsu really won’t remember. She has some kind of illness or something. They suspect she gets beaten at home by her father, so when she snaps, she just goes beserk and doesn’t remember anything. One of them said not to worry, she’ll be fine with me soon enough – he’s had 5 or 6 major altercations with her and they get along fine.
How do I feel about all this? I don’t know. I feel like I’m the one in the wrong here. But how can i do my job if I’m not warned about this sort of thing? I’m angry, and sad, and shaking, and ashamed, and a little bit of left-over scared. And I still have one more second year class to teach today. Let me just say how much I am not looking forward to that.
ooh…
*hugs*
Try yelling in Spanish – that’ll confuse the little bitch! Mind you, I don’t know much Spanish myself other than “muerde me” which means “bite me” but I’m sure if you sat down with babelfish for half an hour you could come up with a few choice phrases. Also, next time, don’t just grab the book but burn it and throw it at her. Man – what a slag. I’d love to be sympathetic to her situation but I ain’t. She goes you again and I’ll hitchhike to Japan and break her legs.
Yes, I know, I’m training to be a counsellor and would love to be a social worker but shit like this pisses me off.
*hugs* to you. That’s … just so many levels of wrong.
But aside from all the other wrongness to be found, not giving you prior warning of this situation is simply unbelievable.
I’m trying really hard to dredge up some sympathy for the on this one.
filthy little scrubberstudent involved but my well of warm-and-fuzziness is totally dry. I agree withUltimately, it’s the school’s fault for not briefing you about the problem. Does that student see a counsellor (or have anger management classes!), or is her disruptive behaviour encouraged and rewarded in some perverse way? She must have some sense of right and wrong. Is the school a cheap babysitting service or what?!
Don’t let one bad apple taint the whole batch. Not all students are bad. π
Let’s pretend we’re in class. Repeat after me: “This is not my fault. I am not to blame here.” Repeat until you know it’s true…because it is. *hugs*
You shouldn’t have to deal with nightmares like this. That kid should be in a special class or a special school, and if this were the US, somebody’d be turning the social services people loose on that kid’s dad. As far as putting up with it in the future, I think the best you can do is try to remain calm, but I know how hard that is in the face of physical attacks. I think you did the right thing in sending her out of the room if she was attacking you. The only other option was for you yourself to leave, and knowing the the back-asswards Japanese passive-agressive tendencies, that might have even worked more in your favor. I’d say that if anything like this happens again, just leave and refuse to teach any class that contains a student who poses a continued threat to your personal safety. That way, you’re clearly the victim and it will make the administrators have to make the hard decisions, not you.
Try not to let it get to you, babe. If you still feel bad about it, refer to the mantra above and take deep breaths. *hugs again*
I think the yelling in English confused her enough. I told her that she belonged in a zoo and that until she could act like a human being, she was not welcome in my class. I probably could say it in japanese, I was just too angry to think about it, and not wanting to give her more ammunition with the mistakes i would be bound to make.
It would almost be worth her going me again just to see you hitchhike over and sort her out!! That put a smile on my face – the first since that class.
i’m sympathetic to her situation, if she does gwt beaten at home, that’s not right in any way. but nor is carrying on such offensive behaviour. I can’t help but think though that a lot of the blame lies with the parents and the teachers for accepting this behaviour and shrugging it off as somehting which nothing can be done about. Surely there is something. I jst don’t know what. I’m not even trained to teach (shh..don’t tell anyone!) let alone deal with that sort of deep illness/psychosis/whatever-you-call-it.
I think I’m fine, the most I’d have would be bruises, and I won’t know until tonight. But the other teacher hasa sore arm – possibly a torn muscle. THAT is bullshit. Since when did teaching become a dangerous activity.
well, i consider myself well and truly warned now *grimace*
I actually thought of another approach: keep yelling in Enlgish but swear, swear like crazy, swear blue murder, swear your head off, swear until the paint on the ceiling starts to peel. Then say, in Japanese, “Now if you sit down and listen, then one day maybe I’ll tell you what all that means.”
Gah. I can’t imagine social support for students in her situation is strong, given what little I know of Japan, which means that it all gets dumped on people like you. I recommend taking a cricket bat to school.
No no no, attack is supposed to come after the warning, hence the old saying ‘forewarned is forearmed’. *huggles* I’ll stop being flippant, I’m just not sure what to say.
The basic acceptance of her behaviour both astounds and disturbs me. That’s not right for anyone involved. I jsut don’t ahve any suggestions on how to make it right, because the culture is so different from here…
I’m sorry that you – or anyone – has to deal with it though, particularly when you are not be able to actually do anything about it.
As far as I know, counsellors, pschologists and psychiatrists are thin on the ground here. this is the land of turn the other cheek and anyone showing weakness is to be scorned and shunned. A friend of mine went to the US to study Psychology for 6 years. On returning to Japan not only could she not get into her field, but there wasn’t really a field to get into.
I can’t believe that the teachers here all know about possible domestic violence issues yet do nothing. but then again it fits in perfectly with the general mentality here.
Yes, school is a babysitting service here. it is designed to train the students into being good citizens of society. how it does that with no concrete form of discipline and nothing to make the students respect the teachers, I have no idea.
As for this one student, she is left to her own devices in class. No teachers tell her off, no teachers kick her out of class, they just go on teaching above her disruptions. She doesn’t get violent unless someone disciplines her or touches her apparently. But she talks all through class, blatantly ignores everything going on and is unbelievably rude. Because she goes off, she is allowed to get away with this and, what makes me most angry of all, is that she is allowed to disrupt those students who do wnat to learn something.
She’s not going to taint the basket for me, but it is fact that this school has an incredibly high proportion of bad apples. this is my second major run-in with a student and I’ve only been here two weeks this rotation. Only once have i ever told off a student at any other shcool but this one. However, given today, that’s going to be changing. it’s just not worth it. I’m not going to put myself out and stand up alone in disciplining students.
I suspect that me leaving would’ve been the better option. I just do not want a student getting the better of me. But, if there is a next time, I will walk out and refuse to teach. I agree that that would make more of an impression in my favour here.
Thank-you for the mantra.
koochoo sensei even came up to tell me, oh you’re gonna love this, η³γγγγγγΎγγγγγDon’tγeven lay that bullshit on me. it’s one thing to have that said when going to work when you should be in bed, an entirely different thing when you’ve just told me how he heard a student kicked and attacked me. It can too bloody well be helped. Yeah, i think mad is winning over right now!
Thanks for the hugs. they’re warming me up and pushing away some of the confusion. *hugs back*
Maybe that was just the preview…kind of as a warning ‘extra’! Flippiant is welcome. I could do with my sense of humour right now *-/
i don’t think there is anything I can do to make it right. Heck I can even implement better english study plans, let alone tackle such a huge societal issue.
Another friend, who finished this year, had one girl in his school who fully kicked in the glass of the prinipals office door. She should’ve been in a special school but the parents wanted her in a normal school. What the parents want, goes. Students are only put in special classes or schools at parents’ requests, not because they necessarily should or should not be.
*looks to the heavens for understanding, cos living here sure ain’t supplying it*
Amber Dear,
I’m really sorry to be reading this. You don’t deserve to put up with this kind of crap. Then again does anyone deserve it? I know where you are coming from I have several little spaz brats in my classes. Although none have even tried doing anything to me. I’m thinking that if this is continues, call CLAIR. Forget the chain of command BS and let the people on top know. Sometimes Shit really rolls fast downhill. Myself I am trying to get in touch with the BOE about my mice problem. My next step is CLAIR too. Hang in there babe. You have my fullest support.