Friday, April 24, 2009

Mad World

I have to deal with a "Mad World" this week. I am seriously thinking now what kind of world that we are living in. Some how I am so thankful that God teaches me love, kind, forgive, hold your tongue, all the virtue that I am learning day by day now...but....still, I am struggling my anger. I am not hidding, yes...I need help sometime!!

Two night a go at a dinner table my son said..."Mummy, I got CD in my parent and teacher contact book but please do not call the teacher it's over... I understand it and it's ok for me please let it go!" My eyeballs getting bigger and asked "What's this Shan? What is CD?" Shan said .."CD means Class Detention or Characters bla bla bla!!" I told him..."Ok explain to me more Shan ...ta ta ta!"

Shan said..."Mum, on the way back from school I met a new face on the school bus. I asked him that "Are you from Mexico? Are you Mexican? and Julie (not her real name), who sit next to me laugh off..."

The next day the teacher make my son wrote a sorry letter. My son did write a sorry letter for him asking that whether George is a Mexican". The teacher said not enough and said to my son need more explanations that why he asked this question??

OK the picture goes like this..when my son asked to George (not his real name) the question, Julie broke off laugh. That made George feel bad enough to tell his ma ma and the pa pa and the parents complain the school. George father is Dutch and ma ma is Indonesian. Hope you see the big picture now!!

I asked one last question to my son..."Shan why you asked this question to George??".. My shan answered to me "Mum he has brown skin and look like Latin people so I asked him.." I told my son.." OK Shan if you asked this without any intention, please do sleep well. ...."

I called the school and straight it out! My questions are..

1. Me, the teacher or the consulor of the school are not in the bus and how they give my son CD? How can we all get the real picture of what happened beside Julie, George and Shan??

2. Is that wrong if someone asking you "Are you from Mexico? Are you Marxian??

3. If me and Robins are Mexican..how could this problem will turn out more... may be more BS??

4. How could this teacher judge my son Characters?? Did the school see my son behaviour records from Year 1 to year 9 ??

5. Does the school know that my son was born in Guatemala and first language is almost Spanish??

6. Why the teacher see my son question to George is bad but why not see George's parent behavior is suck!!

7. Why the school did not see the sensitivity of this parents are a little odd?

8. Why people think "I am better than yours??"

9. Why The parent did not see that this is a International School not only Dutch or Indonesian School??? Come on my son is also half American and Half Shan!!

I am so mad at the parent of George who I think their son should not be at the International School. What kind of parent teach the son that "Oh you are half Dutch and half Indonesia... how dare this boy asked my son "Are you from Mexico?? Are you hurting ?? " How low!!

I got ask many time...Are you Chinese? Are you Mayan? Are you Apache? Are you from Peru?? No one ask me "Are you Shan, Lahu, Wa ???" though....I even got told that I have a Pug Nose means...I have flat nose!! It's ok for me...well obviously not OK for others.

This is what I told my son...."Shan in two years you are going to boarding school in Penn. State. You will face lots of wired things or saying. Please learn that people are different OK!"

For me my son's quesion ...."Are you from Mexico and are you Mexican" is nothing wrong. If the questions is "Are you from that ugly Mexico and are you Mexican Dude? ", this is very wrong and the problem but my son did not asked like that ugly way.

A message to George's parent: Grown up! There is nothing wrong being Mexican or the Burmese! They all have one brain, two eye balls and one Anus!!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Helen dont accept this punishment for shan!!
Accepting it is considering that is some racism there !! And you can punish someone without listening his reality of the facts, thats call JUSTICE

Anonymous said...

Oooh too bad!
How in an international school they can act like that!
Lesson will be for this boy who seems obviously considered mexican as an insult!!
No more things too add... Except in bkk people thought i was german! If my mind will stick with the world wars
I could feel bad!
So if the child is worry only his parents made him worry, they dont educated him showing that dutch and indonesian can be a beautiful fruit like him!!
My children are half french and lebanese, french education! But anytime someone asks audrey where she come from, her answer is allways to half half nationality, she feels proud to be a mixed product!!
Shan is in same case! How can teacher can consider his question wrong? This is their mind who is perverted not the mind of shan!!!
As you say world is going crazy!

Anonymous said...

Me again!!!
Am very angry ! As this event arrived to my kid !
Ask the teacher / is being a mexican or coming from mexico is wrong? If yes WHY cause i cant explain my son something that myself i dont understand! Allways i teach him that we are equal ! So please help to explain him what is wrong now to be a mexican in thailand????

Anonymous said...

You should definitely make an appointment to see the teacher or principle of the school.
This is un-acceptable and I am so surprised that being a teacher he or she does not know
any better? Their jobs are to set the good example for students.

KM said...

Helen,

Shan did nothing wrong. But remind him that for the next time if he wonders about someone race or origin, asks the question like “Where were you originally from?”

KM

Anonymous said...

The world is nuts-that goes without even saying. Shan did nothing wrong by expressing curiosity about someones ethnic background based on his life experiences. It seems to me that asking someone what country they are from based on observation (i.e. dark skin) is a harmless question. Perhaps Shan should have just asked where the boy was from rather than picking a country. Get over it. I am sure that Shans comments were harmless and only a reflection of his natural curiosity.

Regards,

AS said...

The real problem with people is that they are not truly "international".AS