H1N1

On Thursday I got my shot against the Swine Flu. Some moths ago, I was thinking that I wouldn’t bother – because I haven’t had a cold in 1½ years – but then I gave it a second thinking over. With 20% of my lungs gone and having had pneumonia twice (before I quit smoking in July 2007) I figured that maybe this was a good idea. I do meet hundreds of children every day and even if I wouldn’t get severely ill myself, I could certainly spread  the disease to others. During the last few weeks I’ve followed the stories in media about the vaccinations, about people who got/didn’t get the shot and became ill, any and all side effects, line-ups and people complaining.

Here’s a sampling of what I’ve heard/read/seen…

This county has a population of less than 3500 and only one health care clinic – despite that, there were people complaining about the “horrendous line-up” on Thursday. Say what?  This was the second day for risk groups getting their shot – how many could there actually have been there?

Some time ago it was disclosed that the vaccine contains Mercury (micrograms as a preservative in each dose) which made a lot of people decide to not get inoculated. Right. The same people will eat fish from the Gulf of Bothnia without even thinking about the levels of Mercury in that fish. Go figure.

There is a story going around here, that there is a turbo-action added to the vaccine. As the story goes, the same thing was done to a vaccine given to soldiers going to Iraq and there is now talk that this is what causes the Iraq Syndrome – not actually being deployed there. (My apologies to American readers – I may not have all of the facts correct here, I’m just relating what I’ve heard.)

People my age (57) and older feel that they don’t need to take the shot since they were exposed to the flu during the 50’s and 60’s… Correct – excepting the fact that we were a lot younger then…

A  physician who looks after one of our better hockey teams gave all of the players the vaccine ahead of time. He claimed they were all in a risk group since they meet players from other cities on a regular basis…

People who have planned holidays in Thailand over Christmas can’t understand why they can’t get inoculated before Mildred, 72 years old with asthma and a heart condition….

 

Don’t Go There!

Loki was very interested in the creek here and I couldn’t understand why at first. Until I looked down on the other side of the bridge and saw the remains 0f a moose in the water.  The season is still open  -  this one must’ve been shot by someone  outside their allowed area –  and Loki almost went into the creek because of the smell.

 

Some Background…

When I went to school during the 60’s, the term ”bully” was hardly invented – at least not in our school system. If someone treated you badly or beat you up, grown-ups would say one of two things – “Just do the same thing to her/him” or “Come on, toughen up – don’t be a sissy.”

Admittedly, I do think the incidents of serious bullying may have been fewer, but children were still cruel to each other in different ways.

From about Grade 3 until the end of Grade 9, I was the victim of bullying in various forms. In Middle School it was because of my Northern dialect (we lived in central Sweden at the time) and my dark coloring. With my Sami heritage comes brown hair and brown eyes, which was not common further south in the country at the time. I never even thought to go to an adult for help – instead I defended myself and a classmate who was called “Hitler-chick” because of her heritage. I wore out at least three school bags every year, using it to wrap around the arms or legs on our Number 1 enemy. Finally in Grade 6 I caught up with him on the soccer field, tripped him and sat on his chest, jumping up and down, until he promised to never again bother me or my friend. A few months later we moved, so I didn’t get to enjoy much of that peace and quiet.

When we moved back to this area, I was again odd because now I spoke with a dialect different from the one people around here used. Not only that – in 1965 it was not the “in thing” to be Sami – and I made the fatal mistake of admitting to this major flaw in my character. 3 years in Junior High under these circumstances made me promise that I would never again set foot in this school…

(Yes folks, that’s the school where I’ve been teaching for the last 11 years, but that’s another story!)

It took me a number of years to get over some of those experiences. I felt inferior to most of the people around me until I was in my late 20’s. It took another few years before I could shake the conviction that if a chat between others died when I entered the room it was because they had just talked about me… I am still very sensitive to ‘eyes raised to the heavens in despair’ and other ways of dissing people without having to say a single word… My own skin is quite thick by now –but I turn into a FURY when I see young girls use all those silent ways of belittling someone else. The bullying perpetrated by guys is usually so much easier to deal with – they become physical or call each other names – but it is all just as unacceptable in my eyes, and I will call them on it.

Every. Time. I. Recognise. Their. Behaviour. As. Bullying.

I know things happen that I don’t recognise for what it is – but I do my best.

Common decency must be the basis of all interaction – be it children or adults. As an adult, I have an added responsibility to ensure that communication between children, teenagers and adults is performed in such a way that everyone walks away feeling that they have been respected as human beings.

 

So what about the protocol we follow? Does it work? Do we reach the ones it is intended for?

 

Yes it does work – but everyone on staff must be trained. The other day a former pre-school teacher was close to ruining what others tried to accomplish – simply by following pre-school protocol of “making up and asking for forgiveness”.  That is hardly the route to follow when you’re dealing with Junior High students and their conflicts.

The work continues with all of the involved students – especially C who still feels that he has done nothing wrong, we just don’t understand him…  We’re also planning a half-day special for all students around ethics and moral questions, about bullying and other things of the same nature.

More on Bullies II

I intend to write a more detailed post on the subject “bullies and how to deal with them” come the weekend. My post from yesterday is very schematic, as there are almost as many variations  as there are incidents. Right now I’m just too tired to write anything that would require some cerebral effort.

Here’s to hoping that I won’t get sick from the H1N1 flu shot I received this afternoon. When I saw the line-up of people at the nursing station, I was almost ready to turn around – until my friend grabbed me and made me stay. Admittedly, it is nice to have it done – especially since they just said on the news that the spread of the flu is picking up speed all over the country.

More On Bullies

Jenn from Juggling Life commented that she hoped the bully I was writing about yesterday would be seeing some serious consequences as a result of his actions. To that I have to answer both yes and no, since we work according to a plan that does not include punishment, which might be what many people think of when talking about repercussions  in a case like this.

Two members from the ABT (Anti Bullying Team = my translation this very moment) start out by talking to the person who was wronged. The bully and others are kept apart by other staff members to prevent that they concoct a story everyone will repeat. We then go on to talking to all hangers-on and spectators – one person asking the questions and another taking notes. By then we usually have a fairly complete picture of what happened and can go on to the next step – talking to the bully/bullies. This usually takes the form of informing the person/persons of what we have found out, pointing out what was wrong in their behaviour followed by clear instructions as to what is expected of them in the future. We also tell them that there will be follow-up talks within a week or so with everyone directly involved in the incident. We will also inform all parents about the actions taken by the school. Should there be any further unacceptable behaviour by the same student/students, we might involve the police if the offence is serious enough – or Social Services if it’s called for.

 

This time everything turned out a bit different because the bully (W) was someone else’s lackey but in fact did what he did for a number of reasons aside from being “a hired hand.” As the day wore on, we realised that much of the events of the day was a cry for help – and not just from one student. The student who hired (C) someone else to punch a classmate needs help (but is not yet willing to accept it) as much as the one who did the punching (who is aware of his own need for help).

What next?

C will be under scrutiny for some time and offered help to deal with his problems and W had a first session with our school psychologist this afternoon. There are also a few other things planned around the boys in this grade, since the problems by no means are contained just to among these few students.

More to follow – I’m sure!

On Bullies and Victims

My feeling yesterday that this would become a busy week was just a hunch I had. Today it was confirmed that this will indeed become “one of those weeks.” A serious case of bullying and harrassment of a child in Grade 7 erupted when said child was given a hard blow to his temple by another child in the same group. Talks with everyone involved took the entire afternoon and I came home feeling totally drained.

By then it was too dark to do anything else than take Loki for a walk along the lighted ski-trails (yes, they are prepared wide enough that people can ski and walk alongside each other) and then come home and find an old picture to post.

I can’t wait for the weekend – and it’s only Tuesday!

Just Because

On Friday I treated myself to a $6 bouquet of cut flowers. I’ve been waiting all weekend for the lilies to bloom but was beginning to think they were real duds when nothing seemed to happen.

Until today when I was met by the loveliest smell as I opened the door.  Two perfect lilies and the whole apartment smells wonderful.  I take that as a good sign for a week that promises to be very busy.

Yes, that’s a Jackson Beardy print in the background.

All Saints Day

On my way to my Aunt’s place today, I drove by the shore and was struck by the view with the trees and a thick fog out over the lake.

In my mind’s eye, I saw a shot that would be perfect in every which way – almost black and white, the picnic table would be the center of attention, the fog would be just so… This is what I ended up with after adjusting the exposure, but I’m not happy with it. I’ll try and make some other changes later, maybe I’ll get something closer to what I had imagined in the first place.

Visiting with my Aunt and her family was really nice. Good conversation, good food, lots of laughs – what more can you want?

In honour of All Saints Day, I also went by the graveyard to put a candle on my grandparent’s grave. Almost every grave was lit by candles or lanterns, but I couldn’t get a picture of it since I didn’t have my tripod.

Loki spent the afternoon playing with Tessie and is currently snoring away by my feet.

I Can Drive Again!

12 days of hoofing it everywhere was probably good for me in a lot of ways – not the least of which is keeping me humble – but it sure was nice to take the car today and drive to Boulder Ridge!

Loki has loved the walk to and from work all this week (I had a friend park my car at work on Monday, so Loki has had his “home away from home” as usual) -but his delight at getting to run free was obvious. Now he’s snoring at my feet.

All Saints this weekend – I might visit my Aunt and her family if the weather holds tomorrow, because I can drive again!

How Come…

… foxes always seem to know when the ice is strong enough to hold them?

These tracks along the shore wasn’t there yesterday afternoon – but Mr or Mrs Fox had wandered along the shore some time before 9 AM this morning.