I give bear (10) a tap

Image: Getty Images

A teacher tells Kek Mama what she is experiencing. This time: Teacher Claartje (23) teaches group 7.

Thursday afternoon, the break is over. As I walk to my classroom I hear disturbing noises. Yelling, yelling. Inside is a spectacle. Beer (10) has Sep (10) clamped under his left arm with his head. He slams Sep on the head with his right hand. His classmates look on, screaming. I yell, “Stop Beer!” but Bear continues.

Just from the pabo

I’m a rookie, just got off school. So far teaching has been going pretty well, but I don’t have an answer for this. In my impotence I do something that is not possible: I pat Beer on the head. He immediately releases Sep, who then falls to the ground like a puppet. Bear yells, “She’s hitting me!” The class, in unison: “She beats him!” I yell: “Let’s start the lesson!” Nobody listens.

I only know one solution: run away. And to my experienced colleague Fatima, a class away. “We’ve all experienced something like that,” says Fatima. “Now you have to stand there. Children want guidance. Do you want me to join you?” “Yes”, I nod. I can cry. On the way, Fatima advises me to discuss my mistake with Beer’s mother when she comes to pick him up.

To lead

It’s still a fair in my class. Everyone is chatting and screaming. Sep has scrambled up and joins in. Just like Bear. But when Fatima claps her hands, a miracle happens: there is silence. “You are now going to listen to Miss Claartje”, says Fatima. “If you don’t, you will be punished.” I say, “Guys, I made a mistake. I apologize to Bear. Although I do punish him. Because what he did was impossible. Bear, this afternoon I’m going to talk to you and your mother about what happened. Now we are going to calculate.”

Fatima leaves with an approving wink at me. Everyone gets to work. Bear in front. He reckons it’s a delight. His parents are strict. Maybe that’s why he’s so tame now.

Also read – The teacher: ‘This is why I decided to place twins in separate classes’ >

Made a mistake

In the afternoon I speak to him and his mother Ciska. I begin by acknowledging that I was wrong. Literal. “How come, you don’t just hit a student, do you? What had Bear done?” asks Ciska. “Nothing, mommy,” says Bear. He looks bright red. He knows he’s joking and he doesn’t like that, I realize. “Bear, I know you as a bloody honest boy”, I say. “Do you really want to tell me what happened?”

When he does that, my respect for him grows. He says he hit Sep hard. And that he didn’t listen to me when I said “Stop!” said. “What a fool you are, Bear”, says Ciska. “Wait until your father hears this.” Then Beer also tells me something I didn’t know: that Sep had scratched Beer’s notebook. I stand in the breach for Beer: “Ciska, he’s no fool. It’s brave that he tells it honestly. I’ll give him criminal work, I can’t get around that. But I was also wrong. I should never have hit that.”

Ciska’s gaze softens. When she walks out of the classroom with Beer, I see with satisfaction that she puts her arm around Beer. I estimate that Bear will become a buddy of mine. And I’m going to thank Fatima for teaching me how to deal with a runaway classroom. Even if you have just come from high school.

This article can be found in Kek Mama 05-2022.

More stories from The Teacher? Read the previous episodes here.