Health Class

There was a girl who had autism  in my health class in high school  Sometimes she would get upset about things that didn't seem like a big deal. One day we had a sub and the girl got really upset about something. She wasn't screaming or anything, she was just about to cry. The sub yelled at the girl and kicked her out of the room. I thought it was mean, but idk if the teacher realized the girl had autism. Still though. Anyway it would have just been over and done with if the sub didn't turn to the class and start talking crap about the girl. She was just like "that girl has a serious problem, she is always causing trouble and I am so sick of it blah blah blah" it was so mean. And what's worse is that most of the class was being ignorant and agreeing with her. They were like "I know right she's so annoying hahaha!" She didn't even send the girl to the office or anything she just had her sit in the hallway and miss class. It got me so upset I wish I had said something to that horrible teacher but then she would have gotten me in trouble too. I had her for another class and she was like that with a lot of students. It usually was just annoying but I felt she crossed the line when she treated the girl that way and then went on talking about her to the class.

A lot of ppl were mean to that girl. She had like a mild case of autism or something because a bunch of ppl "didn't know" she was autistic and they used that as an excuse to be mean to her. But because they never like yelled at her or hit her they were never called out. But idk, I feel like someone should have called them out because sometimes the teacher sees what they do and don't say anything to the kids. Now I try to let ppl know that the girl doesn't act that way to be rude and usually ppl are like "oh I didn't know" but idk I don't feel like that's an excuse anyway.

The Effects of Authority

I've cried several times at school, and in all cases but one it was because of a teacher. One teacher in particular stands out to me, my fourth grade teacher Ms. Pucci. Elementary school was rough for me. I was a little weird, a mostly quiet but when I spoke I had no filter. I was deeply self conscious and didn’t have many friends. So I wasn't the most confident or happy kid. My best subject was writing, so I was excited for our poetry unit. I remember Ms. Pucci going from desk to desk reading our poems and praising each one. She picked up my paper and looked at it for a while. “It’s good enough” she said with disdain. Math, my worst subject, was even worse. When I struggled with a topic she could have told me that if I kept working hard I’d be as good as the rest of the class. Instead she treated me like a lost cause, and I was convinced that she was right. She was the teacher, and to my 4th grade mind, the teacher was always right. What she really taught me was that I shouldn't have confidence in my abilities. That if I was good at something, I was probably kidding myself, and it I was bad at something I could never improve. She knew that no one in the class really liked me, but did nothing to make me feel more liked. I still drew her pictures like everyone else, hugged her at the end of the day like everyone else, but I remember feeling every day as if I was begging for her to forget whatever it was that I did to make her dislike me. 

I was bullied in elementary school (like many people) but what stuck with me was the teacher who bullied me. Her words and actions cut especially deep because they carried authority. Ms. Pucci was the first teacher who bullied me but she wasn't the last. I've dealt with many in the past nine years. This isn't something people discuss, and it should be because it does real damage.