My lad (Now & but 5 at the time) decided that a teacher had treated him unfairly in that she had promised him something and then given it to another child, told the teacher so and when she told him to be quiet, walked out of the room. She failed to follow him as he marched past the headteacher's office, past the school secretary, out through the front doors of the school, across the school gardens, out of the open gates and headed for the park next to the school. He was spotted on the swings by an incoming dinner lady and taken back to school. He had been "missing" for an estimated 20 minutes and they had not noticed until the dinner lady brought him back in.
The head called us in and remonstrated with us that XXXXX must be taught that he should not do such things. Head got very upset when I demanded a full enquiry by the LEA and the suspension of the teacher. He could not see why I was more horrified at the inaction of the school in preventing a child from being able to do this than with the child for taking advantage of their slackness. All external doors are now properly secured and the teacher reinstated on appeal. She crosses the road if she see me coming.
When asked why he had gone to the park and not come home t'lad said "'Cos to come home I'd have had to cross the main road but to go to the park there were no roads to cross". Not, as I pointed out to the head, the actions of a naughty child but those of a child who felt that he had been treated unfairly and he was going to make his point in the only way he could see open to him .... without breaking the rules set by us about the main road.
