unfair

Brennan told me he was being bullied in fifth period. He told me the teacher didn't help him. I got his support system at school to rally around him. I got his therapist and mentor to talk with him about it at home. Brennan still got bullied, and ditched fifth period twice just before fall break.

This morning, Brennan got up in a good mood. He got up with very little help, and went straight to the shower. He did not mess up the bathroom. He got a nice outfit on, came downstairs, said bye to everyone, smiled a little, got all of his school stuff together without help, and left for school 15 minutes early. Hugely successful morning!

He called me from the office a few minutes ago, nearly in tears. He was being sent to ISS but didn't know why. My feathers got ruffled and I wanted to cry too. I called the Dean and found out that he was suspended for ditching fifth period 15 days ago. Of course, on the surface, it seems a suspension is warranted for ditching. But not for a kid like Brennan. Not today! He is just starting to accept that consequences are results of his actions instead of arbitrary attacks upon him. He was so confident in his abilities to be successful in school today. Now this.

My heart broke for him. I called his school counselor (which I should have done before fall break) and had him switched out of Newman's class for fifth period. He needs more adult support with social skills and bullying than she could give him. The school counselor went to ISS and explained to him that ISS was for ditching, which he needed to serve, but he would not go to that class anymore. Maybe he will understand the lessons here and learn from them. Either way, alot of progress may have been undone, and I ache for him and dread starting at square one again. One tiny baby step forward, ten huge steps backward. So unfair.