June 28, Irony

The school counselor told Jack at lunch that I, too, needed to do mandatory child abuse prevention training. Of course, when she sent the link school wide, it led to a Korean education website for which I do not have login credentials. I attempted to make an account on the Korean-only screen but I gave up around step 20 when my school position wasn’t even listed in the position requirement.

Do I really need to watch these videos, if I’m not even considered a viable user in the system?

The answer was still yes, because Korea, and I got a pass by downloading and watching the videos on my computer. I spent the afternoon learning about real reported child abuse cases which was horribly depressing.

About two months ago, a male sixth grade homeroom teacher was accused of inappropriately touching one of his female students. The parents of the girl were incensed and promised to punish him to the full extent of the law, citing that their daughter was suffering from depression and PTSD since the incident. But since then, news has dried up.

When I asked Helen if any investigation details had been released, she said no, and then commented offhand that the local office of education can block news from getting out.

I thought of the hours I was required to dedicate this afternoon, and the irony was not lost on me.

Governments everywhere can promise to protect the weak, but when local hierarchy is greedy or afraid, like anywhere, the weak continue to suffer. Sometimes I wonder if I should be a case worker, but then I think I might spend every day so enraged that I would become a vigilante and end up in jail myself.

I look at the kids around school and I just don’t understand how any parent could knowingly harm their child. It’s so unspeakably cruel that I want to adopt every last one of them.

A friend recommended the book Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education and I think to feel a bit less powerless in the face of all that is bad, I’ll read it thoroughly.