HankB

Second, make sure that your actions are effective. The point is not to "take action" so you can feel good about yourself, but rather to take actions that change your child’s situation. 

I have four small children now, and I find my time working toward a Masters/Education to be invaluable.  One of the things I learned most shocking was the commonly taught theory that the "worst" parents from a teacher’s perspective are the ones that are paying attention, the ones that are "educated and motivated".

Remember, you don’t need to be the teacher’s friend. You don’t need to be the principle’s friend. You need to be your child’s advocate.  Which is not to say you should be ugly to school officials, but you CAN be very very firm.  Never argumentative, just very firmly re-introducing them to reality.

In your specific situation, you might calmly point out to the principle (and the teacher) in writing that if they know a child is violent and if they put your child in harm’s way in a room with that child then they are liable in spades if ANYTHING happens to your child.  (If you know a lawyer, this might be a good time to get him/her to write a letter for you) I’m willing to bet that the violent child get moved to another classroom.  And you can also point out that your child won’t be moving to another classroom because YOUR child isn’t the problem.  Yeah, that doesn’t fix the world. And life isn’t fair. But. It would effectively alter your child’s environment.

Would be helpful if the parents of the two little girls filed assault charges.  Just saying.

Comes in handy if your child is taking martial arts.  Not because they whack people, but because it helps them have a plan for what to do if they’re attacked. Kids with plans are less scared than kids without plans, and scared kids don’t learn well.

You know, its almost the end of the school year. If you complain now, it might not change things immediately … BUT it might get your kid put in a better situation next year. Have you noticed if they have one classroom with no "problem" kids in it this year? Wonder if those kids have parents that complain a bunch? Also, do any teachers have children in your kid’s grade? If so, try to get in their class. They’re usually in the good-to-be-in-places.

Private school isn’t the end of the world. I’m not trashing public schools, but they are not equipped for some of the issues they’re having today. Like violent students, and drugs, and gangs, etc.  Most private schools can and do have behavior standards. That facilitates learning.  I don’t see how much learning your kid is doing in class.

Think about it: He called you from his cell-phone, like a security blanket, when an assault happened in his class that the adult-in-charge couldn’t stop.

Perhaps its time for you to re-evaluate your position here.  You know, reality and all that…

That is not  a very intelligent statement under any circumstance.

That is true and good advice. But the institutionally-driven intrusions into your homelife are unrelenting. The work and anxieties pushed home sets up conflict in the home. The school sees your home as an extension of their authority, and your family life as rightfully subordinated to any intrusion of any form they wish to impose upon the child, or via the child, upon the parents. This has an insidious impact of eroding and reducing the parent in the eyes of the child by subordinating the parent to the institutional authorities in the school, and directly affronts matters of trust and balance between parent and child.

John Taylor Gatto. William Glasser. If you only have the time to read their work you will be far better equipped to adapt and preserve your relationship with your child.

If your goal is merely to have them learning and focused, then Ritalin will certainly solve that. But there is more to human development, family development and child development than education. There are too many soul murdered robots running around now with no real qualitative grasp of knowledge or the human liberal tradition. Think back. Beyond the rote drills of basic core competency, what do you remember about your lower, middle and high school experiences? What about classroom obedience and robotic subordinance during those years prepared you for critical and creative thinking as an adult? Most say "very little" and many say "I don’t really remember much of anything about those years." But ask them about mistreatment or anxieties and they can go for hours.

In today’s schools, the object of the exercise is to not abandon your child to the institution; to not be reduced and subordinated to the institution in the eyes of your child; and, to remain alert and protect your child from abuse and mistreatment during their tenure in what has become a sick institutional environment. 

Take charge of your kid’s education.

Forget, correcting pc issues.

It’s a waste of time.

Mkay… So this means what exactly?