Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Need advice: parent co-op problem (long)

Thanks, Lorel. I appreciate the moral support, not to mention the kind words about my DS. He seems like an awfully nice guy to me, but I'm more than a little biased.

What she's been doing is tantamount to kicking a puppy. It's cruel, unnecessary, and pointless.

Let's pretend that ds was actually in over his head. Would that have made her actions any less heinous? I don't think so. There is no justification for ignoring a child in your care. It doesn't matter if she overlooked his intellect- she still treated him very poorly.

I taught a class with a child in over his head, and I did not ignore him, ridicule him, or treat him as an inferior human being. That's just not productive or helpful in any respect.

That's sure what it felt like.

I'm not convinced she's aware of what she's doing--at least that's the more charitable reading of her actions, so it's how I'll choose to view it. I can't imagine someone would purposefully treat a 7yo the way she did, and right in front of his mom, too! What kind of despicable person would she have to be, you know? No, I'll assume she just couldn't recognize her own bias or how it was affecting her actions.

But regardless of her intentions, we wind up at the same place.

Thanks, Lorel. I really appreciate it!

I do think sometimes people are just in their own bubble and don't think. They aren't necessarily being intentionally malicious, but they just have no clue how they look from the outside. At least that's what gets me through the day when it comes to situations like this!

And to a point, I agree with this. That's why I initially agreed with her terms that she not slow down the class for him.

It's harder to see that line of thinking making sense when there are only 3 kids in the class though...Ignoring a full third of your students is pretty irresponsible!

Kriston, that's a good news about the class with your friend. It's a good start and you may find other gt kids who will fit right in later on. Combination of learning and a playdate sounds great.

Master of None sorry to hear about your experience. There is no excuse for being repeatedly mean to a child.