Thursday, December 3, 2009

Teacher Update and Prayer Request

Miss Pink's music teacher emailed me back as soon as school was out. He remembered the incident with the "Thriller" video. He'd had some extra time in some classes, so they were watching videos of their favorite Michael Jackson songs (they study influential American musicians, and Johnny Cash was another one they were studying.) When someone asked for "Thriller," he hesitated and warned the kids that there were some scary parts and asked if anyone didn't want to watch the video. As he said, he made the mistake of thinking the younger kids could understand what he was saying and make a good choice for themselves. During the video, he noticed Miss Pink crying and he stopped the video and tried to comfort her. He apologized to me and said he felt terrible that he had caused her to miss sleep. This was enough for me; he took responsibility and promised to be more careful in the future.

As for the movie, I was glad I had asked IF they had watched the movie instead of assuming they had, because they had NOT watched the whole movie. The only parts they watched were clips of the songs--no speaking scenes. This was fine with me because it would help the music come alive for the kids. (And in fact Miss P recognized the real Johnny and June singing "Jackson" on the radio while we were traveling). The teacher explained that all movies have to be G-rated or they have to get parents to sign a permission slip. This made me feel much better, of course.

The teacher also echoed what you all kindly told me: that I was not being That Parent who makes his job harder, but a parent who wants the best for my child He always wants me to come to him with any concerns. It was a good exchange all the way around.

Finally, in a completely unrelated incident, I would like to ask for your thoughts and prayers for the family of our youth pastor, whose 28-year-old brother pulled a gun on a police officer. Apparently the officer got the gun away from him but the brother pulled out another gun and pointed it at the officer, who then shot him. Later, the young man died. Tragically, the guns were actually replicas--but of course the officer didn't know that. I think about my children, whom I love so much, getting mixed up with drugs (this seems to be the case here) and making mistakes that lead to their death, and my heart breaks for their family, especially with this happening right before the holidays. I pray that they will find strength and comfort in knowing that people across the world are thinking and praying about them.

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7 comments:

  1. So glad you got all this squared away...you're going to feel ever so much better with Miss Pink in class now.
    Sandi

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  2. Oh that's great news! I am so glad. But I wasn't worried it would all go pear-shaped ;-)

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  3. I will keep that family in prayers, so tragic.

    I am glad that the teacher was welcoming in the e-mail, and took the time to call you himself. That shows how great of a person, let alone teacher, he is.

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  4. Pray for the police officer too. Regardless of how they are portrayed it is quite traumatic to have shot someone even if justified. And then to realize the guns were not real...

    Phyllis
    (Leann's aunt)

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  5. Prayers to your pastor, his family, and the police officer. It can feel so so dark, wondering why & what if.

    blessings*

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  6. Good result with the teacher! How awful about the shooting. My heart goes out to the policeman, too. Replica guns, suicide-by-cop... blech.

    Those poor families.

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  7. My thoughts went to the same place when I heard about this incident with our youth pastor's brother. It made me say an extra prayer over my kids that they will resist drugs and alcohol.

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