Parents should be very attentive to their children in order to catch any changes in their behavior and be able to respond appropriately. It could be that the child needs help but doesn’t know how to ask for it. This is what our story today will be about.
When the Valerio family moved from Spring Hill, Florida, their daughter Aaliyah had to go to the new Pine Grove Elementary School. Starting school is a stressful process for young children. They leave the familiar environment at home and have to go to an unknown place, and changing schools causes twice as much stress. But these parents hoped that their girl would be fine.
Aaliyah was a sociable child at her first school and enjoyed studying. But at the new school, something went wrong right away. Tomas Valerio always had excellent relationships with his children, so he quickly noticed that Aaliyah seemed to be trying to distance herself from him. She hated school more and more every week. Each morning she cried because she didn’t want to go to class, and every day she returned home in tears.
Tomas was tormented trying to figure out what was going on. He tried talking to his daughter, but she wouldn’t tell him anything. He couldn’t understand whether one of the teachers was mean to her or if the students were bullying her. Things were good at home, which meant that it could only be something at school that was upsetting her. Not knowing what it was made the father feel terrible.
Going to school and insisting on sitting in on a lesson would be useless since any bully, be that a student or a teacher, would behave themselves in front of a parent. So the parents came up with a smarter plan. First, they went to see the local sheriff to check if their plan wouldn’t be breaking any laws. It was all good, so the Valerios set their plan in motion. They bought a tiny audio recording device, and the next morning, the father quietly placed it in the hair of his beloved daughter. They didn’t tell the girl what they were doing so that she wouldn’t worry.
That day, Tomas was eagerly waiting for Aaliyah to come home. She was in a bad mood as usual, so the father carefully retrieved the device and went to have a listen. Then he called for his wife. What the parents heard on those six hours of recording was shocking. Thanks to the recording device, they literally caught the teacher red-handed. The teacher was shouting all the time during class. She scolded small children for the slightest mistakes and constantly ordered them to be silent. And when the teacher spoke quietly, her malicious, degrading tone made it even worse.
The father was terrified at how this teacher was basically bullying the children. Tomas took the tape and went to show it to the headmistress, but she refused to even listen to it, explaining that she doesn’t listen to recordings made without the teacher’s consent. Realizing that other children were also suffering, the father turned to the school board.
His statement about the need to dismiss the teacher that was incapable of working with children was met rather coldly. They replied that the school administration had conducted an investigation and the teacher was reprimanded. They also suggested that the parents should transfer the girl to a different class. But Tomas didn’t want his daughter to go to a school where children were bullied. Tomas and his wife were raising two girls and a son with special needs. Their children were always surrounded by positive emotions and could express themselves freely. Tomas really didn’t want the school to break his daughter’s spirit.
The other parents in Aaliyah’s class supported him, but the matter still didn’t get addressed properly. Things began to change only when he posted a petition to fire Mrs. Duncan on Change.org. It quickly got over 2000 signatures. Tomas found himself in the spotlight of the media covering this issue. Local news outlets wrote and talked about him. Reporters admired the man’s determination to bring justice to Pine Grove. The story soon spread throughout the country.
And even though Mrs. Duncan is still working at the elementary school, Tomas has some hope that eventually, children will be freed from such a mentor. After all, the behavior pattern they witness at this age can stay with them for life. At least now the whole country knows about the teacher’s dictatorship.
Fortunately, there are many great teachers who love their job, and they deserve nothing but respect as they can change a child’s life for the better. That’s all, friends. Share this video with your friends and family. Let us know what you think about it in the comments. And don’t forget to subscribe to our channel if you haven’t done so yet.
