raging vortex, I'm sorry I haven't responded to your request to share the story I referenced several posts above. I will then copy fern's question below, since her's is the latest one.

When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I had a female teacher who had a very bad temper, and likely disliked children. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I regarded homework as optional at that time. So one day she asked for my homework, and I told her I did it, but couldn't find it. That angered her and she started to yell at me that I should look for it.

I pretended to look for my homework in my school desk. Of course it wasn't there. That further fueled her anger so she yelled "Well is it in your cubby!!!!"

"I don't know," I said.

"Well look for it!!!!" she screamed loudly.

So I went to the cubby and kind of leafed through it. It was packed full of papers.

She watched and her fury rose, so she pushed me aside and violently threw out all of the papers from my cubby onto the floor. I was shocked! Then she went to my desk and violently knocked it over so that all of the papers in there flew out, too. The violence made her scream. Then she yelled that I should go to the principal's office. I gladly did. I don't recall being scared. Just shocked.

In the principal's office, I told him how violent she was and that she was scaring the other students and that she regularly made even the most popular boys in the class cry. He listened carefully and I think took me seriously. Then, after thinking what to say for a bit, he asked (in a calm way) if I had done my homework. To him, I was honest and said no, but that I still don't believe I deserved such an extreme behavior from the teacher.

The principal nicely said "Well, C, how about going back to the class and ask her what you can do to make up for the homework." Though I sort of didn't want to, I did what he said. The teacher told me something, more calmly, and then I spent much time cleaning up the extreme mess that she made of my papers. I don't know if the principal ever said anything to that teacher, but I believe he was more concerned about her behavior than my not doing my homework and lying about it to her. I don't recall her being as violent and rageful in the future, at least not in my class. Note: I had done other "bad" things in school, and in her class (sent out into the hall, to the corner, had to write sentences 25 times on the board, was given the paddle, evening/weekend suspension, etc.) I was a little naughty, but definitely didn't think the above behavior was appropriate from a teacher. Comparatively, I'm a goody two shoes now...usually

Next question for this thread is below.