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Why were you bad? Why were you stupid?
Obviously, I was bad because I was told on and punished. I was stupid because it was well into the year and I was still confused whether I should do the top part of the paper or not.

What are you basing your self value on?
Everyone protects what is valuable to them, especially their children.

How might that have changed things?
It would have given me the message that I was important enough for my mother to protect, whether it changed things at school or not. At least I would have known my mother cared enough to at least tell the teacher and principal that they had overstepped their boundaries. It might have begun to prove what she always told me, that she would throw herself in front of a hungry lion before she'd let anything happen to me. Yeah, right!!

Could you explain this more?
My mom and dad had just split up and although my mother didn't seem emotional to me, I knew she was homesick and lonely. To me, all the more reason to protect what she had left.

Did you see "them" as different than other people?
Yes. Authority figures (older people) were/are always mean and take advantage of their position.

Do you believe this is accurate?
Yes.

So disappointment ended when you didn't complain? Your mother was not upset anymore?
No, disappointment didn't end. I would have wanted her to be so aware of my emotional and physical needs that I should not have had to tell her. Yes, my mother was always upset.

<font color=blue>This above all: To thine own self be true. --Shakespeare</font color=blue>