November 17th, 2004
Dear Dad,
Today I’ve gotten suspended. My English teacher was the same teacher who called Daxus a hypocrite. She was picking on the kids in my class and I tried to tell her to stop. I told her that it wasn’t right to take advantage of her authority to tease kids. She started yelling across the classroom telling me to “shut up” because I was “wrong” She said that these kids deserved it, but I knew well that they didn’t. Like Daxus, he just needed a little more friends and the right kind of attention, not 10 minutes of yelling from her every time he enters class.
Uncle Alex picked me up from school and asked what had happened. I told him that I stood up for the kids in class because of a mean teacher. He told me that, that school was a bad school, and I remembered him saying that before. I guess I didn’t listen for the first time, but I’ll be extra careful next time.
Uncle Alex picked up Richard and Daxus at school. My friends came over to see if I was okay. I told them that they should be concerned for the teachers and kids at school. I told them that they should ask everyone if they are okay, because some people aren’t fit to go outside and mingle. I apologized afterwards, but I was just being honest. Daxus sat next to me and told me that he’s gotten detention from the same teacher. He said that it was because I stood up for him. I think I said sorry about three or four times, but he said that he’s okay with that. He liked how I cared enough to try to correct the teacher of her actions, even though I still got in trouble for it.
Daxus later told me that she thinks I’m a bit rebellious and inconsiderate. I’ve never felt such anger like this before. She might be telling everyone in her classes and every teacher she knows that I’m like that. It’s not who I am. I’ve been told repeatedly that I’m selfless, honest, caring, and smart. I’ve been told that I give out good advice, that I’m brave, that I’m optimistic, but this teacher doesn’t see that in me. I thought that maybe that was okay, and that I’ll be kind to her and everyone else anyways.
I did a mild amount of complaining today and Richard, Daxus, and Uncle Alex were there to listen. Afterwards, we played monopoly for a few hours. We had hot chocolate and ate pizza.
Your son,
Rico
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