My 13M child was dared to go into his school office pretending a banana was gun…and he did
Rough day.
I work at the TK-8 private school where my children attend. Small school, roughly 40 kids per grade level. My 8th grader has been there since kindergarten and has been loved by all his teachers, office staff, and the admin. He’s not a kid without struggles; he’s being evaluated currently for ADHD, struggles with anxiety, and has a hard time focusing in class. He’s in therapy for these things. Behaviorally however, he is a non issue (and his teachers are my colleagues and would NOT be afraid to tell me if there was an issue). Has great friends, involved in extra curricular, overall a happy kid.
VP for middle school asks me to meet her in her office end of day. My child is there, VERY UPSET, and she explains one of his friends bet him money during lunch to go into the office with a banana and pretend it was a gun. Swept up in teenage chaos and thinking it was hilarious, he did this - walked in, aimed the banana at one of the office staff, and said “bang! bang!” The office staff was understandably startled.
My son was called in to discuss the situation and the VP did a very good job explaining how series of what he did was and how this will likely lead to a suspension. My kid is devastated. He readily admitted what he did was wrong, didn’t make any excuses, feels awful.
But like, what the hell?? I’m 1) mortified he did this and 2) worried about the why behind this, if there even is a why beyond just making a dumb choice.
I’m standing behind the school 100% in how they choose to handle this. I just feel at a loss what to do on my end.