After My Mother Died, a Teacher Misread My Pain (Opinion)

Share article Remove Save to favorites Save to favorites Print Email Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Copy URL Suzanne M. Swain Suzanne M. Swain has been an educator for more than 20 years, including as a teacher. She is a licensed master social worker, with experience in school administration, instructional coaching, and school-based therapy, and the creator and host of the Middle School Mary Poppins podcast. My mother died the night before I began 8th grade. The next morning, I went to school carrying a kind of grief I could not understand, much less explain. Instead of participating in my morning class’ discussion, I was fidgety and doodling in my notebook as a coping mechanism until I felt calm enough to join the class. My teacher interpreted that disengagement as misbehavior, decided it needed correction, and threatened to call my father—who had just lost his wife.I do not tell this story because schools should ignore difficult behavior. They cannot.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.