Tuesday, March 04, 2008

What Goes Around Comes Around

In my daughter's school the 7th-12th grade are all in one band class together.

For the last 2 years now, since 7th grade, my daughter has been bullied by an upper class man and the Principal's daughter to boot. It started out just in band class but this year, now that my daughter is a high schooler she has had more exposure to this particular student. This means that the student has had more opportunity to abuse my child.

I have to admit that my kid has handled it well. Most of the time she just comes home seething mad and not willing to comment. Occasionally she has come home in tears and we have had to drag it out of her as to what has happened. We have tried to teach our child to look the other way, report things to teachers that teachers need to know about, but basically we have tried to teach her that two wrongs do not make a right. The abuse has gotten so bad that the band teacher has had to separate them by the whole section.

The bully is sneaky. She tends to do things when the teacher is talking with another student or has her back turned or has a substitute.

My daughter's new philosophy is that she only has one more year (after this one) to put up with the "bully".

We have always told her that "what goes around comes around". It turns out that we are correct. Yesterday my daughter came home and shared the happenings of band class: It is time for the band teacher to assign solos for competition. The band teacher called out the names of the few students that were going to be doing the solos. My daughter's name was one of the names called for a solo. While the teacher was busy handing out the music, the bully replied in her best sing-song voice HA HA HA HA.

The band teacher whipped around and got right in the face of the sing song student and informed her that she was going to let her do a duet, trio, or higher but "since your going to have that kind of attitude you can do both".

According to my daughter you could hear a pin drop in class and their was smoke coming out of the bully's ears.

Its true justice is sweet.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay, more background please... Apparently having to do a solo isn't good? The musicians I know usually are accorded the honor of a solo, rather than the other way around.

And so somehow doing a duet and a trio is worse?

Sorry, different world, band. I don't speak the language. :-)

The Lovely Wife said...

Basically a solo for competition means more work. You are judged on your performance alone. If you are doing a duet or a trio then you are being judged together and not alone, you can slack a little and ride on the coat tails of your partners so to speak. Does that make sense?

Anonymous said...

So sort of an honor but, like many of God's gifts, it requires extra work too.

A mixed blessing.