Reply #16: At private schools you have to redefine "truancy" [View All]

[Nevernose]

I've got a friend who worked for several years as a private school teacher. Her biggest frustration? Kids who were truant but whose parents didn't think they were truant. "I pay good money to this school! Why is my kid failing?"

"Well, sir, with all due respect, the grading period is only nine weeks long, and you took your daughter on a ski vacation in Switzerland that lasted for five of those six weeks."

Of course, public schools see a different kind of truancy. The stereotype, not altogether unearned, is that, "Brenda had to stay at home so someone could watch the littler kids when they come home." Or maybe, "But who's going to watch Brenda's kid?"

The similarities come with statements like, "Oh, Brenda was tired/sick/not feeling well/run-down so I told her that she didn't have to go to school that day." Not much different than the Switzerland excuse, and just even more common.

The primary reason I haven't switched from public to private schools (I live in a district where the salary is commiserate) is the parents.

In my admittedly limited experiences, it's the same problems with different faces.

And, to be fair once again, I still turn to my native "redneck" voice when I need to. I'm still using those different faces (and stereotypes) to my advantage.

"Fishin' license? What's that? Wait a minute here: you trayin' ta tell me that I need a puhrmit ta FISH!?!"

"Wayhl, sur, I don know nuthin about that. Here I am, jus' a spaydin along, and the next thang I knows is that there's a lights a'whirlin' behind me. Is there a rayson Eye'm a-under the Ay-rest?"

Or, the ultimate redneck comeback, guaranteed to defeat any officer of the law: "Huh?" Given the correct nuance, and repeated ad infinitum, repeating the word "huh?" incessantly will derail all but the most dedicated of law enforcement.