Hey, what did I do?

As a parent of a child struggling in school I often feel that I am the one being punished. Take for example tomorrow, I have to attend a manifestation hearing to determine why my son has missed so many days of school.

Well duh! when he has had 19 days of suspension this school year that might explain it. There is no need for him to attend the meeting, just me. We will spend about an hour and a half to two hours in meetings and come away with "his behavior has caused him to become suspended."

When he first started to receive suspensions, I would get a phone call to pick him up. When I got there we had to discuss what the problem was. Then when he returned to school I had to attend a re-admittance meeting (always without him.) We would then discuss why he was suspended. This went on for the first three times, until I questioned why it was me in the meeting and not him. Now, we have only the one meeting when I pick him up.

It's not that I don't want to be aware of the problems, issues, and help in finding a solution. I have found that many of the meetings are just a repeat or a total waste of time (like "why isn't he in school?").

Yesterday, David was very quiet and we found him in tears in his room. He is very worried about what the outcome of the meeting might mean. Will he be kicked out of school and sent to another? This is the first sign of concern that his actions have consequences. He also has a new one-on-one that starts tomorrow, I hope this change will also be a benefit.