Stupidity

Probably not the right word to use when I am talking about a 7-year old girl, but its the one that comes to mind. I had a fairly decent day of substituting, lots of talkative kids, but no real trouble.

It was 2:15, only an hour left in the day, and the kids were going to spending the rest of the day in art and at an assembly. So for all practical purposes my work is done for the day. I had the students waiting on the carpet, and then we were going to line up and go to art. As I'm watching all the kids get settled on the carpet, I notice out of the corner of my eye that a girl has a scissors in her hand. We haven't used scissors at all today, and they don't take anything with them to art.

I look at the Samantha closer, and she is using her scissors to cut the jacket of the girl sitting in front of her. Cathy is oblivious to what is happening to her. I walk the students to art and I take Samantha right to the office. Why am I taking Samantha to the office? You would not believe how pissed parents get when their child's clothes are ruined at school. Especially since I could tell Cathy's jacket was close to brand new.

As I walked Samantha to the office, I asked her why she cut Cathy's jacket. "Well she cut my clothes yesterday."

Huh? "Did you tell a teacher?"

"Yes."

"Did Cathy get in trouble?"

"Yes, she got sent to the office."

That wasn't enough for Samantha, she had to wreck her clothes also. That is one of the things I don't like about being a substitute, I'm not going to see how this drama unfolds--or maybe that is a good thing.

As soon as I enter the office, the secretary is shocked that I have Samantha with me. The principal is even more shocked. And all I can think is how stupid this whole thing is.