“Excuse me Ma, I found this letter in the middle of one of our children’s notebook.” said the Primary 2 teacher to her School Administrator, Mrs Gbadebo.
She handed it over and Mrs Gbadebo read it in dismay:
Dear Bolanle,
U are the love of my live.
The rose in my betiful garden.
Oh how I wish to spend the whole day wit u!
Can I take u hout today.
Let plan how it will go down now.
Break time behind the library okay.
Your one and only,
Ade.
Mrs Gbadebo, could not believe what she was reading…
“What is this world turning into?” she asked herself.
She thought for a few minutes and then said to the teacher, “Ms Ann look at the spelling and grammar mistakes in the script, I want you to use this as a teaching point for the class.”
“Haa…but Ma the script is not appropriate! What will the parents say when they find out that we used such filth in the classroom?”
“That, my dear is the least of our worries right now. This is what I want you to do…”
The School administrator laid out her plan.
The results were long lasting but it took many months to execute.
- The children were mortified, the names had been erased, so only the two parties involved knew it was theirs.
- Measures were put in place to monitor the movements of children in the school.
- A ‘Let’s Talk Frankly’ session was initiated in the school for the Primary classes… Goodness the things that came out.
Teachers had to be sent on special courses to help them learn how to counsel the children.
- Parenting sessions were held during the PTA meetings to help the parents come to terms with understanding the generation they were responsible for.
The sessions are now so popular that the PTA meetings have grown from 20% attendance to 99.9%!
No one misses unless they cannot avoid it.
And the children, Bolanle and Ade, they are doing very well now.
The school and parents are all the wiser and ready to guide the children better.
To move a nation forward which is an important objective and purpose of education in a nutshell: is not by a business as usual attitude, it will only happen if we intentionally and strategically up our game.
What do you think?
What other ways could this situation have been handled?
ayopejufalekulo.com 
I can’t think of a better way to have handled such a sensitive issue other than what the school did. I covet such wisdom and thank you for sharing.
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Thank you so much for your contribution.
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