Me again with another rant on Middle school child

**jlaporte** · 09-21-2009, 03:55 PM

ok well aparently i am on a roll. im sick of waiting for my sons middle school to contact me on my sons stolen mp3 and what they plan to do to the other kid or any thing they plan on doing. i have called and well nothing. so i emailed the school this is what i wrote.

To whom it concerns,

Hello my name is Joyce Laporte, xxxxx mother. I must say again another year at xxx has dissapointed myself and my child. We moved here last year and well again have been let down. Last week my sons mp3 was stolen at your school. It was caught on video tape and my son has wittnesses as to who did it. Apartently this boy has done this before. The day it happened my son went to the office to reporte this and was told to come back to many other kids were in the office! Hello!!??? Is this how all children are treated when they go to the office to reporte something are treated? So he went back the next day with his wittnes and THEY DID SEE this video. Well i guess he was with vice principal of his grade. She has not been helpful to my son. Now my son has done things the right way.He is a good student and has made honors before. Somehow he has managed to maintain that with all the bullying and racisim that goes on at that school.Luckily he has a few friends and they stick together. Now when he was speaking to the woman he was supposed to she was more intrested in reading him the rules on electronics. Yes he knows it should be left home but he does have a long buss ride both ways and yes it doesnt excuse it.BUT to have it stolen with wittness to prove whom did it and NOTHING be done to aide him. I know this school doesnt like to make things public but this was a theft. My son was assaulted cuz this kid did put his hands on him in the process. That is a police matter. What is your school doing to aide my son? Everyday he does what he can to find this kid and his last name because he was told he had to do it. Why is that? He has given you all the info on him and various other info as long as his wittness. Isnt that like making the victum do it all when he went for help? So when i spoke to the woman she claimed she didnt know what happened then said she tried to call me. Ok if you dont know the child how can you call the parent? Then she proceded to state she tried to call me but the number wasnt in service? Again if you dont "know" the kid how can you call the parent? Anyway as the conversation went on...I told her all the numbers were updated. She then clamed she called the emergency contact.No she didnt I was with uncle all day his cell NEVER rang. Now after all that I NEED to make sure my sons issue isnt going to be swept under the rug. This is important and I WANT THIS CHILD BROUGHT UP ON CHARGES!! I know it is well within my rights and my sons rights. I am tired of this school being unfair to my children. I have had many issue with your school and how things have been done when it comes to my children. I was supposed to get a phone call FRIDAY. I am still waiting it is not monday 3:47 pm. Yes I know all about how many children are in that school. Honestly not my concern. MY son is my concern and his safety. Now I hope someone contacts me and can say something honestly and not follow it up with a verbal slap or a half truth as to what is being done in this case. Also once something is done and I use "done" losely as I wont hold my breath that my childs safety will be a factor. As in retaliation,which from kids in your school says run rampant. I have brought this up before and it was dissmissed. I dont want this dissmissed. Children go to school to learn and are supposed to have a safe place to learn. Well in my opinion Baypoint hasnt really been one.

So with enouph said I await some sort of contact with this school.

Sincerly a very unhappy parent

Joyce Laporte

**littleplum** · 09-21-2009, 04:04 PM

Is that the actual text of the message you sent to the school?

**jlaporte** · 09-21-2009, 04:07 PM

nope just what i use on here sometimes

**Greebo** · 09-21-2009, 04:08 PM

I do not want to diminish your plight in any way, but I fear that, if that was the actual, verbatim text you sent, that the overall quality of your message is undermining your cause.

**littleplum** · 09-21-2009, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by jlaporte

nope just what i use on here sometimes

Not font. Text. Is that what you wrote in your letter to the school? With all the typos and misspellings and the "Hello?!!!!" and the threats?

If I was a school administrator, and received that letter...after I got done LMAO and passed it around to the other administrators, I'd toss it in the trash and mark your kid as a trouble-maker. There's a study that just came out in the UK that shows a link between antagonistic parents and children being labeled as "problem children".

Also? You really ought to delete your child's personal information. Anyone who reads that post could do so much bad with just your son's name and his school's name.

**jlaporte** · 09-21-2009, 04:19 PM

verbatim? not to sound stupid but do u mean is it the actually letter or what it said? i may not b as knowledgable as some ppl but in this case those are my words and i write as i would speak. i have fought this school and the more "proper" i try to be the LESS they listen. I dont know why. I have tried every way in which i know to make someone at that particular school even listen or care. I know from other parents i have spoken to they just dont care. The main reason...well I will keep it to myself. I dont want to cause an uproar. I posted it to get feed back on the situation. Not to be torn down or made to feel stupid,sadly that has been done here. I do not go out of my way to make anyone feel like an ass. If how i do write bothers ppl well then no one needs to read my posts. I give my opinion and support when ppl ask and that is all i was hopeing for. maybe i am just to heated atm but anyway.that is what i said.if no one cares to read my rants as we do others cuz this is the place where we do it then delete my posts.

**littleplum** · 09-21-2009, 04:23 PM

I can't speak for Greebo, but I was not trying to make you feel stupid.

Honestly, it sounds like your child broke the school rules, and learned the hard way why that school has rules against electronics on campus. If it were my child, I would just let him suffer the natural consequences.

Now, the hitting/shoving? That does need to be addressed. But the way to do that is not through vague threats and run-on letters. You need to go to the school in person, and be professional in both demeanor and appearance.

**Missourimom** · 09-21-2009, 04:24 PM

Joyce, I'm sorry you're going through this and I agree with you, I'm sure you're really just upset right now. I'm also sorry you felt offended and I'm sure that no one wanted to make you feel that way at all. I believe they were just trying to help you. I have an eighth grade education and believe me, I can't spell worth a hoot! I've reached out to others in the past to assist me with writing letters and I'm glad I did because they were so helpful.

I hope you'll calm down and come back and remember, we're all friends here!

**jlaporte** · 09-21-2009, 04:24 PM

and yes i know there are typos and at this point i dont care. I needed it to be a passionate letter and imho it was. you are not dealing with this place. but i guess here has been the wrong place for this . i didnt want a spellling lesson just some other people who understood. i guess i wanted opinions and i got em. thanks for makeing me feel stupid here again. not all and not neccesarily you both who commented...yes i know it is spelled wrong..and i dont care about that.

**littleplum** · 09-21-2009, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by jlaporte

and yes i know there are typos and at this point i dont care. I needed it to be a passionate letter and imho it was. you are not dealing with this place. but i guess here has been the wrong place for this . i didnt want a spellling lesson just some other people who understood. i guess i wanted opinions and i got em. thanks for makeing me feel stupid here again. not all and not neccesarily you both who commented...yes i know it is spelled wrong..and i dont care about that.

No one gave you a "spelling lesson."

And if you wanted to resolve the situation, then what you needed was a calm and professional meeting with the school administration, not a long run on rant of a letter.

Maybe the next time, you can post your rant first, and list the ideas you want to convey to the school, and people here can help you compose something that gets your message across without sounding like someone the principal will want to avoid?

**jlaporte** · 09-21-2009, 04:28 PM

ive been to the school before for this and other issues. i have called i have done everything that a good parent needs to. yes i told my son he knows he wont get it back. but my main issue is that they turn there backs. now i can go on and on about what is or is not done at that school, but seems i am waisting my time here with this. thank you for the members who are friends and do care about ppl and there feelings. I know i do care about others and not making ppl feel stupid my son was wrong granted but...see in privat i can say the other stuff as i do not want to offend anyone here with what is going on and what my son says..and yes i went back and took some stuff out,although i did change it before but not well enouph

**monkeywrangler71** · 09-21-2009, 05:06 PM

Was this a robbery? The other child asaulted your son and forcibly took his property?
I would suggest that you speak to the police directly about pressing charges if that is the direction you would like this to take. The school won't do that for you. If they have the incident on tape the police can make them produce it.

**AmyBoz** · 09-21-2009, 06:02 PM

Joyce,
I'm sorry if you are feeling attacked by the posts here. I honestly believe that people were just trying to make sure that you were heard by the school administration.

From someone in school administration, I can tell you that often, what a parent sees as "passion" an administrator, who has hundreds of letters and phone calls a day, may see as irrational. In my opinion, if you want to be taken seriously, you need to write seriously. Again, I'm not trying to say anything bad about your letter, nor am I making any assumptions about you. However, I think that everyone should have their work read by others before sending it out there. A second or third set of eyes never hurts.

If you'd allow, I'd love to make a suggestion. How about a letter like this:

Dear Mr/Mrs ___________________,

I am writing this letter to express my deep disappointment with the way ____________ School has handled the assault on my son that resulted in the theft of his MP3 player.

I realize that this incident could have been avoided had my son followed the school rules of not bringing the MP3 player to school. This is an issue that I have dealt with at home, and I can assure you that it will not happen in the future.

However, all things withstanding, my son was violently assaulted by another student, and this was caught on videotape. I have been informed that the school administration has seen this video, and yet, at this time, there have been no consequences given to the young man who was involved. This raises serious safety concerns regarding your school. If students are free to put their hands on each other, without fear of punishment, how are we, as parents, to feel safe sending our children to your school? The theft is, in and of itself, another issue that also has not been dealt with to my satisfaction.

As you are aware, assault is a police matter. As you were unwilling/unable to contact the police regarding this incident, I have taken it upon myself to do so. I am hopeful that you will be cooperative and provide the police with any information that they need to complete their investigation.

Please note that I am sending a copy of this letter to the President of the Board of Education, as well. I think it is important that the Board be aware, not only of the incident, but also of your lack of action to resolve the matter.

Thank you,

Joyce ______________

IMO, this letter expresses your outrage, but does so in a manner that shows you know what you are talking about, you are in control, and you are taking the right steps to make sure it gets dealt with. Any school administrator would have to sit up and pay attention.

I hope you don't mind my suggestion. I know I'd be outraged if this happened to my child as well. I just want to help you find satisfaction, and this is the best way I know how.

**zakity** · 09-21-2009, 06:09 PM

Yep, call the police and request the tapes from the school to give to the police.

And, if you aren't getting the response from the school, schedule a meeting with the superintendent. Go in with a list of issues so you won't forget anything. Practice what you want to say and how you want to say it with a friend beforehand (it makes them listen better and it helps you not to search for words while you are speaking). In the meeting, bring up possibly requesting a voucher to a local private school since this one isn't meeting your child's needs.

**zakity** · 09-21-2009, 06:14 PM

Oooo... Good letter, Amy. That would be perfect to get their attention and get some action taken.

You know, if you need something rewritten or reworded, I would post it on here and let everyone have their go at it (many fingers and eyes). I know DH is always asking me to go over an email or a letter or whatever that he needs to send out. He likes another person going over it to make sure he gets his point across clearly and to catch any typos that he and the spelling program might not have.