Bear with me as I am a little confused and American pissed. Initially, my thoughts were going to be in the Teaching section, then no maybe the Issues area. I then thought about Members, but decided no because I wanted this discussion in the Lounge where perhaps it affects us all to a certain degree regardless of our native country.

It all started with a teenager flipping me the bird after school while I was on bus duty.

Here is the background. All teachers have a duty of some sort, whether it is lunch, recess or bus duty. The other day was my turn at bus duty with the Art teacher who has been at the school for the past 19 years.

There we were after school enjoying the Colorado spring waiting for the yellow buses to pick up the students. An 8th grader came running to catch his bus and in the process ran by us teachers and flipped the bird. I immediately followed him onto the bus and gave him the riot act.

Today before school started his parents barged into my classroom. The father is probably in his late 50’s, was dressed in a leather jacket, sunglasses, wore a ponytail and reeked of booze (much like me on the weekends ). A typical blue collar miner from this area. Mom was just a typical fat mom.

What was their complaint? I had scolded their son for flipping me off. The father’s reasoning was that it was better for his son to give the finger instead of fighting. WTF? In all fairness, the boy is a fighter and has been suspended several times.

Now the snowball begins to build and eventually the principal, counselor, school psychologist and the head of the school district and the teacher’s union rep were involved in this young man’s future.

And what was the outcome? Maybe it is better for a student to flip the bird instead of fighting.

My opinion on this issue? A top notch international school in Thailand will beat almost any American school hands down. Hence, my move back to Thailand in order to teach and raise my daughter.