I have been saying to my husband, for many years now, that the local secondary school – a comprehensive, who could ask for more?! – will be our school of choice. A positive, active choice for us. It will be absolutely fine.
Yes, this reflects my politics. Yes, I’m hoping that all the girls’ lovely friends also go to our local comp. Yes, I’ve started chatting (a lot) with parents about it to embed the idea that the school is the natural choice. No we couldn’t afford private school anyway. And yes, I do want to avoid moving house, saving (laughable) and starting tutoring now for entry exams.
Then this happened. Yesterday evening about 4pm I was walking down the high street past the bus stop where kids from the high school of our (positive) choice were waiting for a bus. I say waiting, they appeared to be giving a fellow student a pretty tough time. Fighting? Not quite. Bullying? Possibly. Ganging up on him? Seemed so. More than teasing? I would say so.
I’ve got Emily, Sam and Anna with me. We are holing hands in a chain. As we wiggle past I say, “Knock it off boys.”
I was not prepared for the response.
One of the … let’s call them a troupe, not a gang … one of the troupe turned to me and said “What the fuck? Is this any of your business?”
“Leave it out,” I reply over my shoulder, pulling hard on our human chain that is slowing us down.
I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t intimidated. But I was painfully aware that my authoritative tone and clearly a mum with kids in tow, counted for nothing. I had no influence in that situation at all. And I doubt I would have gained any traction whatever I’d done next. Wow. Maybe we should think about moving house. Or saving. Or calling the tutor in.
“Mum,” Emily said, “What does ‘knock it off’ mean?”
I’m about to answer when Anna asks, “What does ‘leave it out’ mean?”
“What does ‘what the fuck’ mean?” Sam throws in.
Now, who was it that was telling me they had found a really good tutor….?
Triple Trouble Tribe 