4 weeks, 4 fires

Yes, you read that right. We have had not one week go by of the past month that someone hasn't set a fire in our school.

Welcome to public schools, everyone! This is what no discipline or follow-through will get you!

After today's fire, a bunch of adults were huddled around the main office assistant's desk, looking at her computer screen. If I didn't know better, I would have thought they were watching internet porn, they were so interested. Of course, they were looking at the playback of the fire incident. Yes, the children are so stupid that they will set a fire while on camera.

But I digress. While watching the video to see who the perp was, the assistant principal said, plain as day, in front of the office staff and several teachers, "It's the teachers' fault."


What the hell?


I hope this tells you a little something about what it's like to work in public schools. We as teachers wonder why the public at large has no respect for us? Well, why should we wonder? The administration of our building doesn't have any respect for us. The administration thinks that it is the teachers' fault that a child set a fire in the bathroom. How the hell did she come to that conclusion?

Well, the same way she comes to all conclusions; she doesn't want someone to blame her, so she blames the teachers, because we are easy targets. However, in this case, everyone is going to think she's a nutjob if she continues with her stance.

I know that she is afraid that someone is going to blame her. She won't hear it from me, but you all will hear this:

The administration has made their bed, and now they have to sleep in it.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has been done to deter criminal behavior from the students, all year long. Students caught smoking pot on school grounds? They're here, in school. Maybe they were suspended for a couple of days. That's it. No ticket. No arrest. Nothing.

Oh, hey! Wanna set the school on fire? Go right ahead! We'll send you home for a couple of days, "...to think about what you did." While we're at it, why don't we give our puppies at home a treat when they shit on the carpet? Yeah, that'll teach 'em.

Which brings me back to the fires. Yes, 4 fires have been set in the past 4 weeks. Have the children been ticketed for arson? No, they have not. Have they been arrested? No, they have not. Have they received any consequences that show them that their pyromaniac tendencies won't be tolerated? No, they have not.

And here we sit. We, the teachers, are being blamed for a student setting a fire in a student lavatory.


Anybody wanna take bets on how long it will take before they get the whole school to burn down?