Hey guys, I just wanted to tell you what happened to me this afternoon. For those of you who don't know, I am a primary school teacher and I teach the 3 levels before middle school, wich means that my pupils are between 8 and 11 years old. This afternoon, one of my 10 years old pupils (who is an adorable little girl) asked for talking to me during the playtime. She told me "I can tell you everything right ? Even problems that happen in my family." Of course, I told her she can tell me anything she wants. Then, she explained me that her elder sister, who is 15, has a girlfriend, and that ever since her father found out, there is a lot of fights between her parents and her sister, and that she and her other sister (who had been my pupil too) don't know how to handle it. So I started to explain to her that her sister is probably very uncomfortable with the way their parents found out that she has a girlfriend (they took her cell-phone and read her text messages, but that's not the topic), because falling in love with girls is not necessarily something easy to handle for a young girl, even if it's completly fine. That her parents may have a hard time to accept that her sister is falling in love with girls, that accepting it may take times for them. That the fact her sister and them was fighting about it doesn't mean that her family is going to tear appart, but that relationship between parents and teenagers are not always easy. Finaly, I asked her if she is uncomfortable with the fact her sister has a girlfriend, and she told me that not at all, the only thing that is bothering her are the fights. Then she asked me if I thought she could tell her parents that she is not bothered by the fact her sister has a girlfriend, but that she is bothered by the fact they have fights with her about it. To wich I answered that it seemed to me a very good idea, and that it would be a good idea to let her sister know that too. She seemed a lot more happier when we ended the conversation, and I told her again she could come back to talk to me anytime. The reason why I am telling you that, is that my first thought at the end of the conversation had been : thank you EC. A few years ago, I would have been very uncomfortable dealing with that kind of conversation with one of my pupils. Today, it just felt completly natural, and that is something I totally owe to this place and the fantastic people I met here.
What you did was great I hope everything goes well with the family ^^ The world needs more teachers like you!
Thank you guys :icon_redf. But honestly I have done nothing extraordinary. I just had the occasion to use in my work some of the things I have learned from you. Wich makes me think, once again, that education is the key.
