Trans Unified
A call to action on the abusive school board policy decisions of Chino Valley & Murrieta Valley Unified School Districts
“Can I tell you something?”
When a student asks me this, each time, I did the following.
- I say yes, of course
- I ask them to step outside with me
- I stand so that students can see me, but cannot see the student to whom I’m talking
- I ask the student to tell me their understanding of what it is that I have to report
Harm against me from someone else.
Harm against me from myself.
Harm against someone else from me.
Then, I invite the student to share with me.
Approximately 2–3x/month for the past four years, a student would ask that initial question.
“Can I tell you something.”
The period is probably more accurate punctuation than a question mark. It’s never really a question.
Early teachers sometimes feel they’ll lose their connection with a student by reporting. Oftentimes, though, even if the student won’t say it, they know that I’ll have to report what they’ve just told me, and tell me so that they can take some of the guilt of confession, or of “snitching”, off of their…
