Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Growing up Deaf - Part 19

Teasing and Mistreatment - Part 2 of 4

At the end of eighth or ninth grade, someone broke into my locker and took everything. I had a few things at home, but the major stuff I needed for studies were gone. That meant I couldn't study for my finals or get homework done after the theft. I told my teachers and they said that what my grade average was before the finals, that would be my final exam grade. When classmates heard this conversation, some were pretty upset. However, those responsible didn't even try to return my stuff. Did they destroy it, toss it in remote trashcans, what?

A couple things stand out in mind. I don't remember if the combination locks were school-provided or they were my own. They used top and a bottom lockers with mine being the top. At one point, I found my lock upside down facing the locker rather than the other way. It wasn't til shortly afterwards one girl admitted to doing that while watching over my shoulder. She and a couple other girls were known to give me trouble at times. If she did the locker theft, she put up quite an act when I talked with the teachers.

Why didn't they bother with my hearing aids, lock me into a locker or locked area in the locker room, duct tape me up, that kind of thing? I tended to gravitate towards the adults at times.

I don't think I had much of a chance to make friends at the School From Hell. The mistreatment started not long after I arrived; just about blowing any chance I had with making friends. Whatever label they stuck on me, most likely stuck til I left. There was this counselor who actually compared me to a deaf girl who they claimed to be popular there or somewhere else. I don't think anyone really understood my hearing loss back then, much less tried. I heard from a former classmate that like her, we weren't quite accepted there.

Next - Part 3 of Teasing and Mistreatment

4 comments:

Deaf Pixie said...

That's terrible!!

I know how much they are rough on you that time. It was not being fair.

Couple week ago ,my second daughter's good friend put her cell phone, iphone and some of cash. she left and locked up her own locker. someone stolen whole of value. she was upset because her grandparents gave her cell and iphone and other some of relative gave her a birthday gift. I can related that.

Poor you did not get grade or did solved the grade?

Robert G said...

As I mentioned earlier, it was the grade average I had before I took the final for that class. For example, suppose you averaged a 92 for the entire semester or year. That 92 would be your final exam grade rather than a zero.

A bit of a bonus it was, if you could call it a bonus.

Too rough on me, it seems. I was the *ONLY* deaf kid in the ENTIRE school, believe it or not. That entire school was a combination of middle and elementary school in two separate but joined buildings. Today, they're totally separate with their own address.

Anonymous said...

Geo,

Had the same problem in my mainstream school. One day, I lost it and punched a bully in the nose and broke his nose. Since then, no problems.

ASL Risen said...

Oh that's HORRIBLE! I completely understand how you feel about ALONE as the ONLY Deaf kid in the ENTIRE public school. I was there before when I was ALONE in the hearing CoED Catholic High School! It was so extremly stupid for my parents to accept the advise from the hearing nuns at Deaf Oral School not to send me to public hearing high school with the mainstream public high school. I didn't get very good grades without interpreter and cc provided at hearing Catholic CoEd high school!!! Sighs. I did enjoyed reading from all the way down to your Part 1 to 19 with my morning cup of coffee!

I will be looking forward to your next blog! Smile, Shawn