Stacey+Rand+ad+Matt+Geiger

Parent-Teacher Conference Dialogue

__Scene 1__ INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM – NIGHT (Parent-teacher conference taking place in a school classroom between a concerned teacher and the parent of the child.) TEACHER To be completely frank, Charlie has demonstrated some aggressive behavior towards the other children in the class. Yesterday, he wouldn’t stop playing play-guns with the other kids and he continued to roughhouse others after I tried to mediate the situation. PARENT Oh, wow. He has similar behavior at home, but I never thought it would disrupt the classroom as much to call this meeting. TEACHER Yes, he’s been a handful to say the least. PARENT Gee, I have never experienced this with my daughters before. I will try to tone him down as best I can. Do you recommend any methods? TEACHER Well there is nothing in particular, just try and make home behavior similar to what is classroom acceptable. Of course there are always resources to go to. Look up some literature on children and violence; maybe it will give you some insight on how to handle this. PARENT Thank you I will definitely do that.

__Scene 2__ EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND – NOON CHARLIE Let’s play Batman! JAKE Okay. Pow! Pow!

CHARLIE Come on let’s go shoot Mikey! JAKE He’s over on the soccer field. Let’s get him!!

(Charlie and Jake run over to the soccer field. Charlie pushes past a group of younger boys and knocks a few of them down. Without a glance back he makes his way to Mikey on the field.)

CHARLIE Bang! Bang! Mikey I shot you.

MIKEY No you didn’t, I’m playing soccer.

CHARLIE Bang, Bang, Bang

MIKEY Charlie, stop!

(Charlie begins to push Mikey and they both fall to the ground. Charlie continues to fake shoot him and the two boys begin to fight until the teacher intervenes)

__Scene 3__ INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM – NIGHT TEACHER …and that’s why I need to bring you in here again today. Aggression also taps into real anger even when it starts out playfully. PARENT Yeah, I tried to make the home as least violent as possible, but boys will be boys and they always have a violent mind. Even if I make my home appropriate, he is still going to go over his friend’s houses’ and be exposed to violent things. It’s a violent world out there, I can’t censor it all. TEACHER Well I would strongly advise that you get a firm grasp on your child and actually discipline him. Violent boys like Charlie will not have a bright future ahead if preventative steps are not taken. (Parent storms out)

__Scene 4__ EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND – NOON (Charlie and three friends playing play-guns at recess) CHARLIE I’m gonna win the war! JAKE Bang! Bang! PAUL I shot you! TEACHER Charlie, I told you not to do this anymore! You are a terrible influence on the other children; you’re spending the rest of recess in the principal’s office.

__Scene 5__ INT. SCHOOL CLASSROOM – NIGHT (Parent has a large stack of notes.) TEACHER I cannot believe I have to bring you in here yet again. Don’t you understand play fighting can turn into real fighting? A kid might not know how much damage he/she can do or might use roughhousing as an excuse to hurt someone. Some kids are just too angry for it; others have a hard time getting it right and need lots of time-outs and parental attention. If kids are picking on smaller kids or causing intentional damage, we have to intervene. PARENT Well I’ve taken your advice and have researched the topic of child play-fighting and violence. And I have found an excellent book on the topic called Killing Monsters by Gerard Jones. Judging by the way you have directed your classroom and from what you’ve told me, I believe it would be beneficial for you to read it also. TEACHER Oh, really? I think I have plenty of knowledge of children and how violence affects them. PARENT Well you might want to think twice about that because according to Jones, “no fantasy works more directly or efficiently to boost a child’s feeling of power than rough and tumble play. Play fighting helps kids learn their own strength and how to control it. It helps them learn limits and how to observe them. It helps them function confidently in the world. They learn how to handle moderate pain and forgiving friends for accidental hurts.” This I believe is a great tool to have in life, don’t you think? TEACHER This is one opinion. I have been around children a long enough time to know that this is not the case with many kids. PARENT After reading this book, it really has changed my preferences on Charlie’s aggression. I believe that this is a time where he needs to be expressing his feelings and learning how to handle hard situations. He is just a child; and these are the years he __should__ be learning the right and wrong ways to behave. Personally I would much rather him encounter these bouts of aggression now in a structured environment than him being older and not know the appropriate ways to react in society.

TEACHER I understand you want to defend Charlie, but what his aggressive behavior is out of control. As a teacher I must defend my teaching and the ways I control my students. One single book couldn't influence me otherwise. PARENT Before I read this book, I would have the same feelings as you do concerning Charlie’s behavior. This was a quote I highlighted in //Killing Monsters//, this might put some of your uncertainties into perspective “Pretended savagery lifts kids out of shyness and knocks down barriers to closeness. Games involving chasing, pillow fighting, squirt guns, and mock combat help kids learn to judge dangers and take appropriate risks”

TEACHER I am not saying there are no positive gains from play fighting. Just from my experiences, I would see more negative outcomes to this type of behavior than positive outcomes.

PARENT This specific analogy really helped me understand positive implications of child aggression. “Aggression is like a heart attack. Block one artery and the same amount of blood has to flow through other arteries. It can still function but it’s healthier to have every vessel open. If a child doesn’t engage in play fighting his/her aggression will probably come out in storytelling or fantasizing about it.” Do you happen to realize your children are being aggressive in other areas than play fighting? TEACHER Well I must say, you definitely have done you’re research. And Yes, I guess I can kinda see that. But I still think I have to stick to my ways of teaching in the classroom. PARENT Now I’ve talked to several other teachers from different school districts and they said if a kid doesn’t hit another kid on the head at least once during kindergarten, then that is when they start to worry. “An unpleasant incident is the best way for a child to see the connections between what impulses his actions and real consequences.”

TEACHER Everyone has their own ways of handling their own classroom I suppose.

PARENT If Charlie doesn’t get to practice his aggression, he may fear his impulses are too powerful or not know how to handle stress when it becomes imperative to handle it. Working with children’s aggression is more powerful to the child than preventing it. This is something that you need to change in your classroom. Not only have you insulted me as a parent, judged my parenting skills, you have also prevented my child from learning at his highest level. You need to read this book, make all your teachers on staff read it, and implement it into your teaching immediately or the parents and I will take action and take our children elsewhere. (Parent storms off, leaving Killing Monsters on the teacher’s desk)

__Scene 6__ EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND – NOON (Charlie and his friends are playing play-guns on playground having fun. The teacher is watching closely, with smile on face not interrupting with Killing Monsters in hand)