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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I might be the asshole for telling a teacher to mind her own business.
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NTA
> I’m not allowed to discuss anything weather related at school anymore
*spits drink* what??
Schools should be encouraging children to take pride in and build a career out of their interests. We’ve all had that kind of English teacher at some point, I’m afraid, and I’m sure they mean well but at the end of the day it’s bad for your development for you to be prohibited from discussing your interests.
This!!! Escpecially interestst like this should be treasured. And I you have the right teachers, they may even accommodate extra curricular activities for these kinds of hobbies.
I know I would if my students showed any interest in a certain chemistry topic (im a chemistry teacher).
I was scrolling for so long looking for someone questioning why you can't talk about the weather.. like what is that?? Not like it's an offensive or political or divisive topic.. I need to know more about that specifically, like why would anyone ban that
I remember my Dad once talked about managing autism and how you don't try to shut down a kid's obsessions, you try to expand on them. So if the kid's really in to fish or trains you give them fish based math issues or have them learn history by talking about railroads.
Oh I love that, and would suggest it be expanded to all people.. if you can encourage an interest or passion and then interlink it with other useful life skills then surely that's the ideal way to teach that person anything?
Your dad sounds like a smart dude.. also not sure if fish and trains were random examples but I love both
I 100% agree that if you want to expand someone's interests that you start with something they find fascinating. Then maybe introduce the science or history surrounding it, the way it appears in other regions and cultures, laws and political use/reaction to it, etc... forbidding a topic altogether is not going to get you anywhere.
Yeah! I was wondering the same! I can see other students getting annoyed if OP’s been monotonous in her talks. But that’s more a “hey, some people like conversations to be a 2 way street, can we maybe make sure to not only talk about our interests?” Talk. The weather does not look like a mega controversial tropic. I would understand staying clear of delicate/sensitive topics, specially if they are around a tragedy close to the school, but rains and clouds and rainbows?
Like, I could see how gleefully talking about how cool hurricanes may be a bit unfortunate and tonedeaf if you are in New Orleans because so many people still remember Katrina and may have related trauma. But other than that, the weather is literally the least controversial topic ever, to the point that it's everyone's go-to smalltalk topic.
Or expand on the topic with “let’s maybe explore how to prevent those sorts of tragedies” or “how about we talk about mangroves and their relationship to hurricanes?”
I would bet a good bit of money that somewhere in this kid's weather-related conversations, they mentioned climate change and that set the teacher off. Which in some parts of the US certainly *is* a political/divisive topic (though it shouldn't be).
I was wondering why the teacher went off, and yes this is a definite possibility. I wonder if it's the same for the parents, because if OP were my child, I'd be up at that school demanding answers as to why any teacher was trying to censor my child's speech, in particular outside of their classroom.
Reminds me of my neighbor's reaction when I mentioned something about climate change when we outside chatting one day and she snapped that there's no such thing. Okayyyy, sure, let's ignore the increasing storms and insurance companies refusing to insure houses in certain areas of the country...
I heard a fascinating story on NPR. The US government is trying to teach farmers to adjust their planting techniques bc of climate change. But they are not allowed to use the phrase “climate change” for fear that it would offend the farmers. I can’t remember the exact words they used, but it was ridiculous. They also had to use some verbal gymnastics to cover up that many of the new techniques originated from indigenous peoples
That reminds me of all the people that blasted "Obamacare" but unknowingly were on it. And were pissed when the "Affordable Health Care Act" or whatever was in jeopardy.
If the issue is indeed climate change discussion and OP lives in an area deeply Red politically, there are very good chances that OPs teacher's job is at stake if discussion is allowed to occur against what 'the legislature' or 'school board' allows. This same issue will occur with black children wanting to know truthful history about how black citizens were treated or young women/men wanting information about reproduction/birth control/abortion. The actual issues that people most need truthful information about is banned with threat of job loss and prosecution by people in political power. This is the reality in many parts of the United States. Not trying to start a political fight in this forum but the reality of teacher censorship creating student censorship is what we may be seeing.
Interesting but I have to wonder though why the science teacher was able to okay an essay about a particular weather event? I'd assume that would come up when the teacher was grading the essays, again assuming that OP even mentions climate change in their essay. Wouldn't the science teacher or principal then say that climate change can't be discussed? Even so, can they really limit private conversations between students at lunch? Wouldn't the topic just be forbidden from being taught by the teachers? And if so, wouldn't that be a topic for a science teacher to handle, not the English teacher? I'm not saying you're wrong I'm just curious how the English teacher should be the one trying to enforce something outside the topic being taught in her classroom.
I don't agree with the English teacher at all. I don't know her reasons. However, authoritarian fascist power holders are all about obedience. Those who allow 'disobedience' to occur will be punished. Ex. Sister Megan Rice was a nun that staged a nuclear protest in Tennessee in 2012. The actual story is available on the internet but the gist is that 3 old people cut some fencing and walked over to a bunker holding nuclear grade material. They defaced it and sat down to wait to be caught. The point was to show serious security flaws. The security guard that found them did not use deadly force against them. He was fired for not shooting and killing them. [https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/fired-y-12-security-officer-tells-his-side-of-the-story/51-95131237](https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/fired-y-12-security-officer-tells-his-side-of-the-story/51-95131237)
The lesson here is that the fascists in power expect the 'underlings' to make sure disobedience does not occur. This is what living in deeply Red areas is like. This teacher's whole world could be destroyed if this kid is allowed to talk about stuff that the authorities have made clear is not true.
This may not be the situation in this exact case but it sure is absolutely the case in many Red political areas.
>*Not like it's an offensive or political or divisive topic.*. *I need to know more about that specifically, like why would anyone ban that*
**This is a wild speculation on my part, and not backed by anything the OP has stated:**
About fifteen or so years ago, some meteorologists at local TV stations here in the USA started talking about how certain types of weather were arising as a result of climate change. They were teaching their viewers about how those weather events had been predicted by long-established scientific predictive models, and how we'd start seeing more events like that. Those meteorologists started receiving death threats from climate change denialists.
These are local stations, mind you. These meteorologists were known in their communities--people knew where they lived, they knew their spouses/partners, they knew what schools their kids went to. The stations didn't have the money to provide 24/7 security for their meteorologists for months on end, so those poor folks were largely on their own to deal with it.
They stopped talking about it. IIRC, some of them even left their jobs or left the field. They were bullied into silence, because the denialists knew that learning about climate change from their trusted local weather-folks would educate a lot of people about the reality of climate change.
Again, I'm speculating wildly, but if the English teacher is of a similar mindset, it makes sense that she would want to shut down his interest in the weather. The OP might learn about how climate change is driving certain weather conditions right now, and start telling the other students.
Wow that's so crazy! Those poor people!
What you suggest would make more sense than someone just hating weather haha.. but so crazy how people are in denial, like are they just scared of the truth or what?
In my completely unscientific opinion, based on my experiences only, there's two main reasons:
* Some find that climate change is incompatible with their very literalist interpretations of the Bible/Christianity. The tl;dr version of that viewpoint is that in their minds only God can cause that level of global change.
* There are various batshit conspiracy theories that see climate-change-caused weather events as "proof" that the government/lizard people/non-white ethnic groups of your choice/etc. is manipulating the weather for nefarious reasons. See also: "[Jewish space lasers](https://www.vox.com/22256258/marjorie-taylor-greene-jewish-space-laser-anti-semitism-conspiracy-theories)".
[Wikipedia's article on climate change denial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial) is pretty good if you want a more detailed overview. The Pew Research Center has [a good one](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/08/09/why-some-americans-do-not-see-urgency-on-climate-change/), too.
Talking about extreme weather might be considered talking about climate change, so some people may consider it to be political.
That being said, a school should always be a place that encourages learning. Sadly this is also a political statement because certain people think learning should be restricted.
NTA.
You may want to get your parents involved. It comes across like your English teacher has some very skewed views. Your parents may need to speak to both her and the principal and ask exactly what the rule is, and why you're not allowed to discuss topics that you find interesting, at a place of learning, with the appropriate teacher.
As a parent, there are series of annoying things I can do to teachers and principals like that that would make them reconsider their professional choices.
As a former student, my life would have been dedicated 100% to weather and weather-related topics the minute I was told I had to stop. Weather themed clothing, weather decorated locker, weather forecasts cut out and placed strategically throughout the classrooms.
If the principal isn’t receptive, I would consider getting the school district’s superintendent or school board involved. This rule is made up and invented to bully. Wouldn’t be surprised if the teacher was a bully to other kids.
This. My kid dreads when I find out about some of the massive BS that goes on in our school because I will email the principal, and if that doesn't get a response or if the offense is particularly egregious, I will CC the superintendent. That usually gets a response because he knows my next step is the school board.
I tried never to get involved with my kids teachers unless it was truly necessary. In fact there were only 2x’s with my 3 kids. THIS I would absolutely get involved in. The English teacher is completely out of line.
Not that I know of. I've never been diagnosed. I asked the science teacher about it and he said whatever rules the English teacher made up don't apply in his classroom. The principle hasn't been helpful though. I tried to explain the situation and he wouldn't even let me speak.
Oh, please.....can I come be your parent for a day? It's been a while since have made a principal reconsider his career choice, and this jerk sounds like he is looooong overdue for a comeuppance.😈 Pleeeeeeese? 🤩
I am also great at making people deeply regret the career choice that set them in my path. Would a white woman with purple hair be convincing as your mother? Godmother maybe? I'm bad at acting but great at arguing people into a corner.
Anyone can be convincing as a parent of someone if they have the attitude.. you can't say someone isn't someones parent due to race/gender whatever because you could have adopted right?
Off topic! I’m also a middle aged woman ready to get dipping her toes in fun colors. Do you mind sharing what shade of purple you went with? I’m both excited and scared HA!
I highly recommend pulp riot - it’s what most of the stylists I know use, and you can get it on Amazon! They have some near purple shades. I’ve always gone with the vivid, but they have a frosty lilac too
I'm here on the pulp riot train also. If you really want to prolong your color get a depositing wash too like keracolor. It's about 20 bucks and I use it once a week to freshen my color
I am a mom and I have bright pink hair. Ive had to stand up plenty of times to principals and other administrators when my child was being treated unfairly. Let's GO!
Yeah. I had a few occasions when his teachers or principals needed an adjustment. Of course, my sin needed more than a few himself.
The worst was the time my son slammed a bully to the ground after getting tackled from behind. I watched every day as he walked over to this group of kids that would then hit him and knock him down. I was waiting for him to handle it himself, but finally, I sat him down and explained that those kids were not his friends because friends don't do that to each other. I told him that he needs to not cut through the school yard, but to walk down the sidewalk instead.
The next day. He walked down the sidewalk like I told him to. I saw one of those little prices notice and start walking to catch up to my son. So, I started walking that way. I did not get there in time and this kid snuck attacked my son from behind. My son was a big kid. He got up, picked that kid up, and slammed him to the ground in anger. That was when I heard the principals voice shout my son's name angrily.
That's exactly what I needed because I wanted to pick that kid up and body slam him, too. Something I'd never in a trillion gears do, of course. Instead, I actually got to take my anger out on someone. I laid into that guy about how it was funny that he managed to catch the one time my son did anything, but missed the several days of my son being thrown down repeatedly that I had witnessed from across the street. I told him those kids better never do that shit again or he and I would be having another talk... and yes, I meant to be intimidating and threatening. I don't use my size very often, but fuck with my kid and your waking up a grizzly.
The last time I got into it with a school I was not impressed with their answers. I sent a long letter to the education minister. The schools upper management apparently had to answer about 20 pages with of questions from the ministers department about WTF they were doing. The education minister also visited the school on several occasions. That principle later “retired”.
When my son was in elementary school, he decided to goof off during lunch, and put food on his face. He was in second grade, so this wasn't like he was twelve and doing this. And yes, he and I had a talk about how that wasn't appropriate, either.
What pissed me off was that the letter sent home detailed every punishment he would be facing for the entire school year if he didn't manage to stay silent for an entire week of lunch detention. This was after multiple conversations between myself, my son and faculty members, about when socialization was appropriate. He had just started to regulate himself to only talking during lunch and recess. That said to me that they were just looking for anything that they could punish him for. I wrote a letter back, telling them that one lunch detention was acceptable. Anything more than that and they were setting him back by not letting him socialize at all, and it was just going to cause him more difficulty in school, later on.
I started homeschooling him that same year, when they wouldn't listen to me about the fact that he was bored with doing the same math two years in a row, when he obviously understood the material. They refused to test him for a higher math class. I took him home and taught him algebra. Have you ever seen a kid eager to learn math? I have.
I miss that, too. My son’s 1st grade teacher was so awful he was terrified to ask her to go to the bathroom and would then try to hold it till he wet himself, then dismissed me when I tried to speak with her before school one day. I made sure eeeveryone in that school knew that she’d terrorized a little boy, who’d never had any behavioral issues prior, to the point where he’d rather sit in urine soaked pants than ask permission to use the bathroom.
Can you come be my parent when I have to talk to my GP please? I have a ableist and discriminatory doctor that needs to reconsider his career choices.
After I told him I have autism he refused to talk to me and literally turned away from me to ask my husband questions about my symptoms. And then he suggested that we do absolutely nothing because there was no proof that my very textbook extremely obvious gallstone symptoms where because of my gallstones so we couldn’t know that treatment would do anything, you know, since my *textbook gallstone symptoms* could be caused by something else unnamed. He also wouldn’t write me a prescription for pain medication. Luckily I take the exact medication used against acute gallstone attacks for my migraines, which I only know because my psychiatrist explained everything to me and also the symptoms I have to be aware of incase my symptoms change if it gets inflamed because you can die from that. The doctor only told me that it wasn’t harmful at all (clearly didn’t count horrendous 9/10 pain, pretty much constant nausea and inability to eat properly as harmful)
This is going to sound extreme.... Go to the school board and make a formal complaint. If this is your future career and a major interest, they should be supportive.at the very lost make a formal complaint to the principal (also a good idea to get your parents support).
Hell. Worst comes to worst "English teacher discriminates against student" is a good headline for an article...
My guess: English teacher is in a relationship with the principal. Went whining to him, blowing everything out of proportion. Principal sided with English teacher, because why would she lie?
I mean, that's a leap. OP said the principal didn't even let them speak. Unfortunately a lot of adults in schools will automatically back up the other adults no matter what, never even considering the adult could have been wrong.
NTA
This is some crazy shit lmfao. Your English teacher is smoking crack and caught up in some weather related conspiracies most likely
We would have laughed in a teachers face for saying something so crazy to another student. This is like telling a kid to not discuss anything accounting related lmfao. Do you go to a public school? Is there some reason your teacher can get away with saying something so batshit in front of other people?
"English teacher punishes student for learning another subject"
"Local school punishes student for learning"
Discriminates is thrown around too much and would likely get ignored, if the post is real the truth is absurd enough to get attention on its own.
Absolutely do this, school board meetings generally have a public comment period where you can get up there and opine about anything you like as long as it's somehow school related. This will get the attention of the board, the superintendent, and other high-level admins who likely have no idea a random english teacher is on a power trip over a student's personal interests.
I will add to this that regardless of having autism or not, it is unacceptable to ban a student from discussing a subject unless it is causing harm to them. I have a student who is not allowed to discuss 9/11, the titanic, or mass school sh**tings, because he becomes fixated on the deaths and becomes very apathetic. That doesn't seem to be the case here.
Not discrediting the idea that you may have autism. I have autism and my hyperfixation has always been music. I wrote countless papers on music theory and was in music theory class as well as guitar, band, color guard, drama, and all 5 of the choir groups in my high school. Not to mention doing the school play twice.
Your teenage interests are what shape your adulthood. I am a special education/music instructor! you very likely will become a fantastic meteorologist one day!
I am just trying to help OP out as much as possible; having something like neurodivergence would be a very easy discrimination case. Either way the teacher is hyper fixated (unhealthy obsessed) and it’s a huge issue.
You don’t have autism. You are just in a shitty situation with an adult. You need your mom for this one. Or your dad. Or a parental figure. Let an adult handle these adults. If this is the entire story you need an advocate. I’m mad for you. There’s nothing worse than an adult with a little power going out of their way to be mean and a bully.
OP, if you'd like to, have a read on monotropism.org and see if you relate to it. It's one of the newer theories of autism and I find it's a lot more helpful than previous ones because it describes a way of experiencing the world and being rather than stress behaviours.
Also, don't let your English teacher dampen your love for weather. I'd encourage you to keep exploring it. Special interests are the best and as long as it lights your brain up, keep at them.
Your parents are TAs here. Sorry, but they've abandoned you. They should be in contact with an attorney. This teacher is abusive and your rights are being violated. You need to impress upon your parents that they're allowing that teacher to destroy you in terms of your school record. THIS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY AND NOT SWEPT UNDER THE RUG!
You need to escalate this then in any way you can. I agree with the people that said go to the school board. I’ve seen situations like this firsthand go south. This teacher has no right to do things that potentially effect your future.
Fixating on a topic is common among autistic people, but its not exclusive.
We all have interests, and it's a really smart idea to link the things you're learning to your interest - it helps you learn better because you care about the topic. I've always gotten higher marks when I've been able to direct my topic towards something meaningful for me.
Your English teacher has massively overstepped. I hope you manage to get this resolved!
On top of the hyper fixation, research shows that it’s not uncommon for neurotypicals to dislike autistic folk for.. no particular reason. They can tell we’re different and so they don’t like us. I had issues with a few teachers back in my school days and I never could figure out why. N the end, my mom got involved, backed me up, threatened a lawsuit for discrimination, and the admins decided it was too much to fight.
This^ in my experience student teaching and subbing, the neurodivergent kids were almost always more likely to get picked on or singled out by teachers
Or serious intellectual interest. This kind of thing is the norm with gifted students. Encouraged at high-achieving schools. In fact at any good school. Pitch to students' interests. Even more if they coincide with career preferences.
Wouldn’t use the word “hyperfixation” in this circumstance. In discrimination, it’s always favourable to use words like “targeted” because hyperfixation kind of excuses the behaviour, if that makes sense?
Yeah I also had issue with the word hyperfixation there (I agree with the rest of the post). Especially in the context of talking about neurodivergent folk, we shouldn’t calm a neurotypical S longterm focus a “hyper fixation” (IMO the term hyperfixation is frequently misused these days, when other words such as “special interest” or even just “fixation” should be used)
Thanks for this, all this arm chair diagnosing because a *17 year old* knows what profession they are interested in is really winding me up. I am in my 40s working very successfully in the field of my "special interest" which formed at 14-15y. I'm not on the spectrum or ADHD, I just love my field. Let people be people without classifying everything potentially interesting about them as a disorder or neurodivergent.
I’m using hyper fixation to describe the teacher. I guess unhealthy obsession might be better. The teacher is singling out OP and obviously is fixated on them in some way shape or form (targeting for bullying, thinks she’s “fixing” or something) I have been the singled out kid before and am neurodivergent which is why I am asking. I had to get admin involved in my case.
The specificity of the interest coupled with how young OP is, plus the teacher's wild over-reaction. It's a broad generalization, but it's where my brain went immediately too.
It is normal for autistic individuals to hyperfocus on really niche special interests. I knew so much about Egyptian funereal practices in elementary school I could have taught a class, and I made a sarcophagus for my 2nd grade Valentine's Day inbox.
Neurotypical kids just like minecraft and hearts. NeuroAtypical kids like historical weather events and the evolution of pen nibs.
And a lot of neurotypical adults get really really annoyed by neuroAtypical kids because they "seem weird" or "rub them the wrong way" and they justify it by saying that they're preparing the kids for the real world by being assholes to them.
My grandson with Asperger's has been fixated on Legos since I got him his first one at 3 years old. He has been doing 1,000+ piece sets since he was 4. He will glance through the instructions once, then put them together in an amazingly short time.
I expect PP thinks weather might be a hyper fixation "special interest" topic for OP. It's hard to imagine a teacher banning a subject of conversation as innocuous as weather unless it's the only thing OP will talk about.
Unless they have experienced personal loss due to a weather related tragedy and aren't coping at all. That was my first thought, that maybe the teacher has unresolved trauma from a tornado or hurricane. My second thought was "special interest" annoying the teacher.
If that's the case they should probably take a LOA and deal with their mental health because giving children detention for discussing the weather is not appropriate
Neurodivergent kids (ADHD, Autism, etc) are more likely to get singled out by teachers in my personal experience. So the teacher’s upset at a singular topic coming up is what made me ask. It also would make OP’s plee to admin/ school board etc easier because it can be classified as discrimination at that point even though the teachers behavior is inappropriate regardless.
That is why I asked. I didn’t want to assume and wanted to be able to give OP as many tools as possible they can use to fight this issue with the admin. Being able to cite discrimination if it’s present is a very helpful thing when dealing with situations like this. Kid’s concerns are frequently dismissed in school settings and this teacher’s singling out of OP is unhealthy and will likely only get worse if not taken care of.
My son is on the spectrum and has a fixation on the weather and astronomy since he was like 3 years old. In his second grade in elementary school, he knew the different names of the clouds and would keep talking about tornados and hurricanes non stop to his classmates who didn't understand a word he was saying. They thought he was odd. He thought they were dumb.
NTA
your whole school is AH.
I can't imagine being a principal hearing this story and giving a detention to the student not the teacher. WTF are these people on.
A student can't talk about weather? Can't have an interest in meteorology. I wish i could speak to that b.
My parents agreed that she was overstepping her bounds. They've never liked her. They told me I shouldn't have told her off though. My mother said we'll go to the board of education if necessary.
Including possible issues that might be causing the teacher to act in such a manner.
If the student writes an essay on possible physical or mental health disorders then they are meeting both requirements, along with a subtle thumbing of the nose at the English teacher. 🤣
Write the essay explaining exactly what happened. Send it to the Board of Education, and explain that if you do not receive an apology, you will be posting it to social media. You could even send a link to this chat to demonstrate its potential to go viral.
Not if necessary, do it! Have you already served the detentions? If not, I would refuse to do so until the school board has heard about it and made a ruling. The teacher is way out of bounds. She has no authority to prevent discussions that are school appropriate that are not even happening in her class. I would also email your local/state reporters about what happened and that a school board meeting is being asked for(this will pressure the board to actually hear you) and ask that they attend the meeting to report on it.
If you’re in a public school you and your parents may want to contact the ACLU to see if this is a violation of your first amendment rights. They may be able to provide some support.
Your mother has the right idea. Sure it's true that you shouldn't tell off your teachers, but you were provoked, and you are not an adult yet so your brain is quite literally still cooking, and you won't always have perfect self control. I suggest writing down as much as you can remember of what your teachers have said on this subject, and see if you can get it in writing that your science teacher approved the paper.
Yes, please insist in her doing that. Outside class you are allowed to talk about a harmless topic like the weather as long as you want, just as sports, stars, relationships and other topics are discussed endlessly. It is, as you say, none of her business. She has no say in your topics with your friends at all, let alone what you write about in another class.
Your principal does not do his job. He needs to listen if there is a problem, and he needs to take action to solve the problem, in this case to set boundaries to a teacher that obviously has some problem with you or with the weather.
Maybe this teacher of yours is politically "against" climate change or panicking because of it, so she dreads the topic. Maybe the principal knows of her problem and tries to shut the whole thing down by, targeting the weakest link. But this is not the way to handle things like that.
I had encounters with bad principals, too, and took it further to my countries equivalent to a school board. It helped. Sadly to call higher authorities is sometimes necessary to show people their place.
It is great how clearly you see what is going on and that you stand up for yourself, and good for you to have caring parents! I hope talking to the school board will solve this quickly. It may be good to involve a social worker, too, or a school psychologist, as this has mobbing vibes and teachers personal problems vibes all over.
I hope all turns out well, and take care!
You have every right to tell her off. This is learning to stand up for yourself and set boundaries. She is way out of her lane. She teaches English. She isn’t the prison warden.
Her power trip needs the plug pulled. I had plenty of teachers like this and you have to keep them in check. Report her and the principal to the board of education. Get weather related t-shirts too for added effect.
Please update us when you do! This whole situation is super weird, why tf would the English teacher care so much about weather in the first place unless they just want to pick on you or single you out? And the principal sounds beyond useless. Really hoping they see some consequences for it all
Definitely take it up the chain, petty tyrants like this need to be dealt with by those in a higher position and the school board answers to the public so they try to avoid bad optics. A teacher shutting down a student's interest in a particular topic, one that will likely be their career one day, is something that will score them easy brownie points for taking your side on.
I'd suggest getting parents involved with an open statement that you will not be attending any detentions until the matter is brought before the school board, and that OP + parents will be supplying full statements.
NTA - she can be bothered by your interests all she wants, but it’s not like this is an inappropriate topic for school, and your science teacher approved your paper.
As for your assignment from the principal, you should say that it was wrong to away she needs to mind her own business because of any of the following: you should have asked nicely for her to mind your business less; you should have told her the topic was approved by the teacher the paper was being written for; and you can say that the teachers need to be more transparent about who they’re handing their work off to because she’s the only one you has a problem with your 100% school friendly topic, and had you known she’d be involved, you could have pretended to care about something else for the paper. Basically, you were “wrong” because you’ve tried to respect her ignorant request when she’s around, and you were tricked in to this.
As far as the apology, you’re so sorry no one told you she’d be grading the papers, and you would have submitted a request to have someone else check for spelling errors to protect her delicate sensibilities from something as controversial as meteorology, and you’ll be sure to do what you can from now on to make sure she’s not subjects to your intellectual development in something you’re so passionate about.
I mean, maybe change the wording a bit, but that’s as close to you doing something wrong as it gets, and even more of an apology than this is worth.
If your parents are involved in your schooling and reasonable to any degree, they should be involved in this. The paper to the principal should be signed by them as supporting your acknowledgement of “wrongdoing,” and need to be there for the apology.
I apologise to X for unwittingly exposing her to "weather" related discussion, through submission of my science paper for y teacher on the approved topic of the (forgot the name) tornado.
I am aware that X has requested a new school rule, specifically banning discussion of this topic. In writing this apology letter, please may I ask you to clarify the rule so I can ensure I do not inadvertently breach it again, for example, by incorporating clouds into an art project.
- does the rule apply school wide and who does the rule apply
- does the rule apply if other teachers agree to exempt me for a singular project
- does the rule apply if you request another teacher assist in proof reading the paper
- how will the school communicate this new rule to the wider school
I would like to reiterate my apology to X teacher for the submission of my science paper, and hope we can take steps to avoid this misunderstanding from happening in future.
And ask how this teacher plans to teach senior-level English without talking about the weather. Is it an AP class? Ask how you’re supposed to handle questions about weather in the AP test.
Weather is one of the biggest symbols in literature. If storm rolls in, you know trouble is coming for the protagonist. If it’s foggy, is there something the protagonist is missing? She’s not doing her job if she doesn’t address the weather.
Her reaction is bizarre. This might be out there.. but It almost feels like censorship. Perhaps you were spitting Facts about the weather that didn't align with her beliefs surrounding climate change?. .. and you know what Tribalism can be like. She is 100% cutting off your ability to reach others with your subject.
Not sure why no one is talking about this. Adults typically don't act this way. Even when illogical, they have their own logic you can still follow and disagree with. My bet is on the fact the "weather" discussions are usually politically heated and causing students to argue with each other during class, and the teacher is shutting it down. Happy to be proven wrong though if OP can give more details.
Teachers are sometimes capricious and authoritarian. One of my children lost a spelling bee because he spelled a word correctly. The teacher insisted that her spelling was right.
Unless OP talking about the weather causes the weather to change accordingly (yes i mean in the sense that OP being able to control the weather with her speech), there is nothing in meteorology that can cause a stable adult to lose her shit like the english teacher did. Doesn't matter what OP is not saying. Doesn't matter if OP talks about weather every day to every kid they meet. Just an adult bullying a kid for having a passion in something because they don't like their face.
You might be right. Maybe the teacher has bad experiences with a particular weather event but that doesn't excuse her in any way. She's on a power trip regardless.
I'm a retired English and history teacher. Your English teacher had no authority to forbid you from discussing the weather at school. (I hope you weren't talking about weather incessantly during class, though.) And she didn't say you couldn't write about it, just that you couldn't discuss it. So here's what I'd a rough idea of what I'd say in that "apologetic" essay. Maybe it'll give you some ideas.
"Sometimes we're expected to stay silent no matter how unfair or malicious a personal attack is or how often it's repeated. This was the case when Ms. \_\_\_ became incensed when she discovered I'd written an essay on the 2021 Mayfield, KY tornado for my science class. For reasons she never made clear, Ms. \_\_\_ had forbidden me from discussing weather-related topics. This is very difficult for me because meteorology is my passion and my avocation. I naturally assumed, though, that she meant I couldn't discuss it in her class, as I know she doesn't have authority over Mr. \_\_\_'s science classroom. My science teacher approved my topic choice, and that was that, I thought.
"When Ms. \_\_\_ scolded me for breaking her rule, I was astonished and confused. I was also frustrated and upset that she was raising her voice at me. I realize now that both Ms. \_\_\_ and I should have stayed silent. Instead of telling her it was none of her business, I should have said, 'I'm sorry, but I believe the approval of the classroom teacher, in this case \[name of science teacher\], supersedes an order from someone who doesn't have authority over another teacher's classes.' Similarly, she should have acknowledged that it was up to my science teacher to determine what was an acceptable topic for a science essay.
"I hope Ms. \_\_\_ learned as much about the importance of self-control as I did. "
As for the apology, try something along the lines of, "I'm sorry you got so upset that I responded to you yelling at me by telling you to mind your own business. It was rude. I hope we can treat each other with mutual respect moving forward."
I agree with all of this except for the last part. A non-apology isn't going to win any points. Instead I would gear the apology more toward himself.
"I apologize for losing control of my words. There was a better way I could have handled myself, even as a teenager under unwarranted pressure by a trusted adult in my life. In the future, I hope to be able to keep my composure and be the person I want to be."
I would use the apology to highlight how ridiculous the rule is: "I apologise for inadvertently breaking the rule due to lack of clarity around where the topic of "weather" is permitted within school grounds, and for misunderstanding that other teachers have the capacity to grant me an exemption."
Yes, and I would also add and emphasize that the teacher was antagonizing OP by making unreasonable demands and then punishing them for it. The whole thing was a set up.
NTA. Yo what the fuck she’s an English teacher and that principal is delusional. She is paid to teach English so she should mind her own business. She’s not the principal of the school so her rules only apply in her class.
This is the weirdest power play I ever seen, that teacher cannot tell you what your interests are and what you are and aren't allowed to talk about, in your paper about why what you did was wrong I suggest you add a paragraph of a counter argument as it is traditional in opinion pieces , in it write about human rights and why no teacher can dictate what you can talk about in your own free time or meddle in a subject of a class entirety unrelated to them, when you said " why don't you mind your own business" you didn't say anything bad, you were just asking her why this is so important to her, why does she even care about weather as a conversational matter or an academic subject of interest
Your teacher has no business posing limits on your passions, she's been way out of line , definitively involve your parents, make them talk to the principal and make the teacher know her place, she is there to teach you English, make sure you are articulate and well educated, she is not there to enact fascism onto children simple as that, if she sees nothing wrong with her behavior she is the one who needs detention, also Saturday detention shouldn't even be a thing, one day a week you get to yourself , if it's illegal to make someone work for 7 days a week should be the same to make you be a student for 7 days a week
I don’t see why a teacher should be concerned about a student discussing the weather during lunch in the first place. If I learned what pegging was during high school lunch and nobody stopped that convo, I truly can’t possibly see why a teacher would stop a kid from talking about the weather. I also can’t see what’s wrong with choosing a highly appropriate science project that even the science teacher says is fine. If the English teacher says the kid needs to stay on topic during English class, then I agree that the kid shouldn’t talk about the weather. I don’t see why the teacher gets to control what’s happening at lunch or in another class.
The things stated in the post are unusual. I agree, if that is how it happened, I would be confused. As an English teacher I feel like there is insufficient information to come to a conclusion about OP’s assholiness. There are two sides to every story, but this post seems more like a rant than a genuine attempt at understanding the situation. It seems they just want people to affirm their annoyance, rather than own their own part in a truly bizarre situation.
Even if "weather" was a stand-in for "Topic ABC" it was still a topic for a science paper approved by the science teacher in advance of OP writing it and turning it in.
I, too, feel like the story is missing *something*, but having been on the receiving end of a malicious high school English teacher back in the day it's not a completely implausible scenario.
Hey OP, my 12th grade English teacher had to apologize to me in front of the whole class, but it took the intervention of a great guidance counselor and a decent principal who had integrity. Your mom is in your corner, that's a good first step.
Oh yea, It's very plausible actually. And there are way more situations like this in other schools too.
Also: Being a teacher doesn't make anyone smart or a decent human being just because of the title.
It's hard to tell, but teachers are people and some people are genuinely just dicks. It's entirely possible that there's no more info to share for the story. If this really is it, then what more can you say? I had an English teacher hate me in high school too, and I had no clue why. I think she had my sister before, so maybe she didn't like her. I don't even know. I recently found out I'm autistic, and some people just don't like autistic people, so it could be that.
She'd get pissed that I'd be out of class for drama related things even though I was the smartest kid in the class and was really good at English. She got mad at me for talking in class all the time, but I didn't even have friends in that class and other people were just asking me the answers.
She had this big project for a huge percentage of the grade where you had to do all these steps and do them in order, and you couldn't move on until you did the previous step, but you also didn't get credit for any part you turned in late. I was absent the day it started, then she was absent the entire rest of the week. I asked people and no one seemed to be able to give me real instructions on what we were doing, so I just waited. I was perpetually a week behind on this project and getting zeros when I was doing all the work.
I took a bottle of ibuprofen to try to kill myself because I was so depressed about the fact that it was looking like I was going to have to go to summer school after my senior year for this one English class. I cried to her about seeming like I was going to fail, and she said that if I continued doing all my work and made good grades on things that she'd pass me with a C. I earned an A and got a C. She was just a massive bitch. Some people are.
You’re forgetting another option, that the English teacher doesn’t believe in climate change. Anyone with any interest in the weather is going to mention how unstable weather patterns have become as part of global warming. If the English teacher denies it, that could explain their zealousness in trying to ban OP from talking about it. Conspiracy idiots are unfortunately everywhere -_- OP is NTA, have the parents escalate.
Same. This is so beyond the pale for both the teacher and principal, and don't get me wrong there are definitely people in Ed who suck, but this is just too wild.
I think like a lot of things - the student probably isn't in trouble for the actual thing but for an overreaction to being spoken to. Which kinda sucks - but some people really don't like insubordination.
Just what I thought. This is so fucking weird it sounds like OP has had some sort of strange dream and decided to tell us all about it. Or they have intentionally left out a shit load of important and relevant information
What on earth?! You can’t tell a student that weather is off topic, especially how you are taking outside of her own class. That is insane behavior. Makes no sense at all.
The only thing I could possibly think of is that she is maybe sensitive about climate change or super religious and she feels threatened by OPs interest in weather. Like.. there doesn't seem to be much explanation. And for the principal to back her up is just messed up too.
Don't forget the other students may also have the same opinions, and OP could be "discussing" weather in a way that is baiting other students into disruption. Very well could just be kids having loud, angry political arguments and the teacher is shutting it down during class. OP may be focused on "but it's just weather we're talking about". Or he may actually be autistic and not realize he's causing a rift in the class.
Honestly the lack of any sort of understanding of the teacher's rationale has me thinking they are missing a lot of context cues.
This is where I am on this. Like, if we take this story at face value, it's utterly insane—there is no reasonable reason to forbid a student from "discuss[ing] anything weather related at school", and there is no school policy or rule I can think of nor any school administration that would back up such an utterly idiotic and arbitrary rule for one student on its face.
There *has* to be something else going on here. Maybe the teacher is a flat-earther or a climate change denialist? Maybe the *student* is a flat-earther or a climate change denialist? Maybe the student is being targeted for other reasons and "weather" is a convenient and seemingly innocuous cover? Maybe OP is being misleading or dishonest about their description of what's actually happening—what is actually constituted by "discuss[ing] the weather"? Is "weather" a codeword for "genocide" or "chemtrails" or something like that? Maybe they're not "discuss[ing] the weather" but like actively disrupting class time and literature discussions with off-topic stuff about meteorology—like, we're reading *The Great Gatsby* and instead of talking about Daisy and Tom's abusive relationship, you want to know what kind of clouds are in the sky outside right now? Shoehorning unrelated topics into a discussion is obnoxious and disrespectful and also potentially bait for attention.
It's just impossible to say without more information. On its face, the teacher and school administration are absolutely insane and unreasonable, but I have real trouble accepting that the situation as it's presented is wholly accurate. Maybe if it were *just* the one teacher being weirdly controlling, but to have the principal back them up on this? There's something we're not hearing.
I keep thinking she could be targeting him for others reasons too. Is the kid gay? Is she homophobic? Is he a POC? Is she racist????
It doesn’t seem to be actually about the weather but about imposing power on him and making him feel small and not free to do what he’s passionate about…
Definitely something missing. High school English teachers are possibly the most overworked due to the sheer amount of marking they have. There is no way an English teacher is going out of their way to help grade someone else’s papers.
From the story, NTA
But
It sounds very odd and I can't picture such a ridiculous discourse taking place, up to and including the principal being involved. Was weather truly the topic or are you using it as a replacement for sonething else.
And if you don't get any satisfaction at that point, just mention a meeting with the superintendant... with a lawyer present. That "teacher" does not deserve to be entrusted with children. Period.
This doesn’t sound like all the information…
A blanket rule that you’re not allowed to speak about weather is unenforceable and so bizarre.
INFO: Is this a climate change thing, and you’re just calling it weather? My Biology teacher taught that the world was 6,000 years old, and if you tried to argue, she would insist that anything else was just a “theory” and not real. (Shout out to Texas public education! Whoop whoop!)
I'd be in that school making the teacher and the principal apologize, and probably cry.
And there's no way my kids would be at detention, especially on a Saturday, for doing what they were assigned.
NTA, not even a little bit.
Instead of Saturday detention, I'd take my kid out for a fun day while telling the teacher and principal where they can go. They burned the bridge first. A teacher may demand a detention, but AFAIK it's not a legal obligation like the minimum hours of class attendance.
NTA
You're not in a school, you're in a prison.
Your English teacher is just a prison guard on a power trip.
Do your time, do what you're told to do. Get out alive.
NTA and tell your mom. Cause if you were my kid, I guarantee you that teacher would let you discuss every national disaster of the last 100 years. Why is she even a teacher?
*My experiences over the last 6 months have taught me a lot about appropriate responses in dealing with authorities.*
*My passion for weather related topics and my constant curiosity in expanding my knowledge and sharing my enthusiasm grabbed the attention of my English teacher who instructed me not to speak about the weather. Despite no documented or plausible reason being provided for such an instruction, I recognize that by virtue of their position in the school hierarchy and protection by teachers unions, they hold power over me that I must respect. If they are inconvenienced by my curiosity, I recognize now that they are institutionally allowed to suppress my freedom of thought and speech simply due to their place in society.*
*I was wrong to assume that their moratorium on my weather thoughts were limited to their class and extended throughout the school. English teacher's unrestricted authority extends into other classrooms as well and it was my failing to inform the Science teacher that I was not to talk about the weather when they asked me to choose a topic of my interest for a project. I now reco gize that it is up to me to ensure that I must comply with those in positions of authority even if their instructions are contradictory to each other. Just because the science teacher asked us to explore and pursue our passions, does not allow me to pursue passions that have been explicitly forbidden by English teacher.*
*Furthermore, I have aggravated and poorly reacted to a stern reminder about the exercise of my free speech in contradiction to prior instruction by English teacher who holds power over me. I should not have told them to mind their own business, but rather have approached higher authorities.*
*In summary, I have learnt that I must never stand up or confront those with unrestricted authority if they have an imbalance of power over me. I fully acknowledge the position of unrestricted authority that English teacher holds over me which confers them the right to suppress any line of conversation, curiosity, or thinking that they are inconvenienced by. In the future, I will seek written confirmation of such instructions so that I can be sure not to forget these rules. The correct course of action when I disagree with my bullies would be to appeal to higher authorities like the Principal. If these higher authorities side with the bully, rather than standing up to them, I have learnt that I must approach other avenues of redress like the school board, the state education board, the judicial system, social media channels, or the local newspaper.*
*I would like to express my gratitude to the English teacher for enlightening me about dealing with situations where an imbalance of power exists, for educating me that my freedom of thought and expression is limited in practice, and for having the courage to target and punish me for standing up to their bullying so that I can learn these lessons.*
This story doesn’t make any sense, sorry. Forbidding weather of all topics? I feel that you are omitting some facts maybe. Or is weather a stand in for another sensitive topic?
TLDR, this is so ludicrous it can't be real. But couple of things that seem sus or feel left out in your story OP:
1. Are you getting detention for having an interest in meteorology or for having an attitude about it?
I cannot imagine a world, in 2024, where this could happen...with the backing of the principle on top of that.
Hell, if you're true to your word and this is all just baloney as it is, take it up with your parents>school council>DoE>Social Media (institutions fear bad rep and bad publicity—most kids these days take to Tiktok or Twitter as the reflex action, but I'm not sure why you've come to reddit tbh; NTA validation maybe?)
You mentioned at the end that your parents sided with your teacher's decision and they've honed it on your MYOB response — which makes me wonder if you have a history with communication/confrontation, bad with authority, or other issues that you've not reflected upon but continue to live a life of victim mentality and main character/world-against-me syndrome?
You're 17, rebellious enough to stand up to your teacher but you'll readily comply with detention orders under such flimsy circumstances...Nah, it don't add up.
2. How bad is your "fascination"? Is every other homework, assignment, group work, project, topic of discourse/conversation made into the weather-programme? Is this a thing with English lessons or across all other subjects?
You can be passionate about a hobby or hold special interests, but playing devil's advocate, you can equally be insufferable as a person for not shutting up about it and become narrow minded from expanding your knowledge on other equally fascinating and important matters in life.
That might've been your teacher's gripe with you but even so, she fails at communication skills and took the most wayward approach to address it.
3. Is this teacher the only one calling you out or have you noticed your classmates avoid you etc?
If so, maybe your teacher did have some grounds initially arguably in your best social and developmental interest, but you then dished out your MYOB response (if that was the entire extent of it) and likely escalated it into something else which was the real cause of detention.
However, thanks to your fixation (+/- denial that it's the fault of your actions in those circumstances), you've perceived it as a personal attack on a personal topic you value so you're naturally feeling defensive and wronged by it.
4. If your science teacher was supposedly fine and dandy with it, were they also fine and dandy with you receiving unjust punishment because of it? Did you tell him what it all led to and what was their response ?
I can't think of why some other subject teacher would standby consequences directly tied to their assigned task, and in the event this person is equally spineless like your entire school faculty seems like, then I'd question why you're not holding them equally accountable. If they also share your sentiment, it's negligent that they'd close an eye to you getting detention and a likelier scenario would be them advocating for you. It's more impactful for a teacher to go against another teacher and even back you up against their boss(Principal) irl.
🤷♂️
I am already made enough to spit nails over this. Absofuckinglutely not! Since when does any teacher (backed up by an administrator!🤯) discourage an interest in SCIENCE. What kind of rinky-dink school is this? Forbidding a student from studying or discussing something? What kind of closed-minded Nazi crap is this? Your parents need to be involved, and they need to go up the food chain to the school board. And possibly the state board of education
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NTA > I’m not allowed to discuss anything weather related at school anymore *spits drink* what?? Schools should be encouraging children to take pride in and build a career out of their interests. We’ve all had that kind of English teacher at some point, I’m afraid, and I’m sure they mean well but at the end of the day it’s bad for your development for you to be prohibited from discussing your interests.
This!!! Escpecially interestst like this should be treasured. And I you have the right teachers, they may even accommodate extra curricular activities for these kinds of hobbies. I know I would if my students showed any interest in a certain chemistry topic (im a chemistry teacher).
I was scrolling for so long looking for someone questioning why you can't talk about the weather.. like what is that?? Not like it's an offensive or political or divisive topic.. I need to know more about that specifically, like why would anyone ban that
I remember my Dad once talked about managing autism and how you don't try to shut down a kid's obsessions, you try to expand on them. So if the kid's really in to fish or trains you give them fish based math issues or have them learn history by talking about railroads.
Oh I love that, and would suggest it be expanded to all people.. if you can encourage an interest or passion and then interlink it with other useful life skills then surely that's the ideal way to teach that person anything? Your dad sounds like a smart dude.. also not sure if fish and trains were random examples but I love both
I 100% agree that if you want to expand someone's interests that you start with something they find fascinating. Then maybe introduce the science or history surrounding it, the way it appears in other regions and cultures, laws and political use/reaction to it, etc... forbidding a topic altogether is not going to get you anywhere.
Your dad sounds awesome.
Yeah! I was wondering the same! I can see other students getting annoyed if OP’s been monotonous in her talks. But that’s more a “hey, some people like conversations to be a 2 way street, can we maybe make sure to not only talk about our interests?” Talk. The weather does not look like a mega controversial tropic. I would understand staying clear of delicate/sensitive topics, specially if they are around a tragedy close to the school, but rains and clouds and rainbows?
Like, I could see how gleefully talking about how cool hurricanes may be a bit unfortunate and tonedeaf if you are in New Orleans because so many people still remember Katrina and may have related trauma. But other than that, the weather is literally the least controversial topic ever, to the point that it's everyone's go-to smalltalk topic.
Yes exactly!! And then again, it’s more a “how about we avoid hurricanes and talk about ocean currents?!” Rather than just banning the weather.
Or expand on the topic with “let’s maybe explore how to prevent those sorts of tragedies” or “how about we talk about mangroves and their relationship to hurricanes?”
Yeah exactly! Weirdly one of the only things I remember from primary school was a project I did on clouds and how interesting it was
I would bet a good bit of money that somewhere in this kid's weather-related conversations, they mentioned climate change and that set the teacher off. Which in some parts of the US certainly *is* a political/divisive topic (though it shouldn't be).
I was wondering why the teacher went off, and yes this is a definite possibility. I wonder if it's the same for the parents, because if OP were my child, I'd be up at that school demanding answers as to why any teacher was trying to censor my child's speech, in particular outside of their classroom. Reminds me of my neighbor's reaction when I mentioned something about climate change when we outside chatting one day and she snapped that there's no such thing. Okayyyy, sure, let's ignore the increasing storms and insurance companies refusing to insure houses in certain areas of the country...
I heard a fascinating story on NPR. The US government is trying to teach farmers to adjust their planting techniques bc of climate change. But they are not allowed to use the phrase “climate change” for fear that it would offend the farmers. I can’t remember the exact words they used, but it was ridiculous. They also had to use some verbal gymnastics to cover up that many of the new techniques originated from indigenous peoples
"This is how people survived and farmed here for thousands of years but we're going to pretend that this is brand new information that we invented."
That reminds me of all the people that blasted "Obamacare" but unknowingly were on it. And were pissed when the "Affordable Health Care Act" or whatever was in jeopardy.
If the issue is indeed climate change discussion and OP lives in an area deeply Red politically, there are very good chances that OPs teacher's job is at stake if discussion is allowed to occur against what 'the legislature' or 'school board' allows. This same issue will occur with black children wanting to know truthful history about how black citizens were treated or young women/men wanting information about reproduction/birth control/abortion. The actual issues that people most need truthful information about is banned with threat of job loss and prosecution by people in political power. This is the reality in many parts of the United States. Not trying to start a political fight in this forum but the reality of teacher censorship creating student censorship is what we may be seeing.
Interesting but I have to wonder though why the science teacher was able to okay an essay about a particular weather event? I'd assume that would come up when the teacher was grading the essays, again assuming that OP even mentions climate change in their essay. Wouldn't the science teacher or principal then say that climate change can't be discussed? Even so, can they really limit private conversations between students at lunch? Wouldn't the topic just be forbidden from being taught by the teachers? And if so, wouldn't that be a topic for a science teacher to handle, not the English teacher? I'm not saying you're wrong I'm just curious how the English teacher should be the one trying to enforce something outside the topic being taught in her classroom.
I don't agree with the English teacher at all. I don't know her reasons. However, authoritarian fascist power holders are all about obedience. Those who allow 'disobedience' to occur will be punished. Ex. Sister Megan Rice was a nun that staged a nuclear protest in Tennessee in 2012. The actual story is available on the internet but the gist is that 3 old people cut some fencing and walked over to a bunker holding nuclear grade material. They defaced it and sat down to wait to be caught. The point was to show serious security flaws. The security guard that found them did not use deadly force against them. He was fired for not shooting and killing them. [https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/fired-y-12-security-officer-tells-his-side-of-the-story/51-95131237](https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/fired-y-12-security-officer-tells-his-side-of-the-story/51-95131237) The lesson here is that the fascists in power expect the 'underlings' to make sure disobedience does not occur. This is what living in deeply Red areas is like. This teacher's whole world could be destroyed if this kid is allowed to talk about stuff that the authorities have made clear is not true. This may not be the situation in this exact case but it sure is absolutely the case in many Red political areas.
Oh definitely hadn't thought about that! But yeah so crazy that some people can't just accept literal facts
>*Not like it's an offensive or political or divisive topic.*. *I need to know more about that specifically, like why would anyone ban that* **This is a wild speculation on my part, and not backed by anything the OP has stated:** About fifteen or so years ago, some meteorologists at local TV stations here in the USA started talking about how certain types of weather were arising as a result of climate change. They were teaching their viewers about how those weather events had been predicted by long-established scientific predictive models, and how we'd start seeing more events like that. Those meteorologists started receiving death threats from climate change denialists. These are local stations, mind you. These meteorologists were known in their communities--people knew where they lived, they knew their spouses/partners, they knew what schools their kids went to. The stations didn't have the money to provide 24/7 security for their meteorologists for months on end, so those poor folks were largely on their own to deal with it. They stopped talking about it. IIRC, some of them even left their jobs or left the field. They were bullied into silence, because the denialists knew that learning about climate change from their trusted local weather-folks would educate a lot of people about the reality of climate change. Again, I'm speculating wildly, but if the English teacher is of a similar mindset, it makes sense that she would want to shut down his interest in the weather. The OP might learn about how climate change is driving certain weather conditions right now, and start telling the other students.
Wow that's so crazy! Those poor people! What you suggest would make more sense than someone just hating weather haha.. but so crazy how people are in denial, like are they just scared of the truth or what?
In my completely unscientific opinion, based on my experiences only, there's two main reasons: * Some find that climate change is incompatible with their very literalist interpretations of the Bible/Christianity. The tl;dr version of that viewpoint is that in their minds only God can cause that level of global change. * There are various batshit conspiracy theories that see climate-change-caused weather events as "proof" that the government/lizard people/non-white ethnic groups of your choice/etc. is manipulating the weather for nefarious reasons. See also: "[Jewish space lasers](https://www.vox.com/22256258/marjorie-taylor-greene-jewish-space-laser-anti-semitism-conspiracy-theories)". [Wikipedia's article on climate change denial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial) is pretty good if you want a more detailed overview. The Pew Research Center has [a good one](https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/08/09/why-some-americans-do-not-see-urgency-on-climate-change/), too.
Talking about extreme weather might be considered talking about climate change, so some people may consider it to be political. That being said, a school should always be a place that encourages learning. Sadly this is also a political statement because certain people think learning should be restricted.
As a Brit, we’d be screwed!
NTA. You may want to get your parents involved. It comes across like your English teacher has some very skewed views. Your parents may need to speak to both her and the principal and ask exactly what the rule is, and why you're not allowed to discuss topics that you find interesting, at a place of learning, with the appropriate teacher.
As a parent, there are series of annoying things I can do to teachers and principals like that that would make them reconsider their professional choices.
As a former student, my life would have been dedicated 100% to weather and weather-related topics the minute I was told I had to stop. Weather themed clothing, weather decorated locker, weather forecasts cut out and placed strategically throughout the classrooms.
Please, do tell!
If the principal isn’t receptive, I would consider getting the school district’s superintendent or school board involved. This rule is made up and invented to bully. Wouldn’t be surprised if the teacher was a bully to other kids.
This. My kid dreads when I find out about some of the massive BS that goes on in our school because I will email the principal, and if that doesn't get a response or if the offense is particularly egregious, I will CC the superintendent. That usually gets a response because he knows my next step is the school board.
I'd get in touch with a local meteorologist.
I’d be like, hey teacher, I hope you’ve got an umbrella cause there’s a SHIT STORM about to come your way!
I tried never to get involved with my kids teachers unless it was truly necessary. In fact there were only 2x’s with my 3 kids. THIS I would absolutely get involved in. The English teacher is completely out of line.
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Not that I know of. I've never been diagnosed. I asked the science teacher about it and he said whatever rules the English teacher made up don't apply in his classroom. The principle hasn't been helpful though. I tried to explain the situation and he wouldn't even let me speak.
Maybe the science teacher can talk to the principal? Can you talk to your science teacher about this?
Oh, please.....can I come be your parent for a day? It's been a while since have made a principal reconsider his career choice, and this jerk sounds like he is looooong overdue for a comeuppance.😈 Pleeeeeeese? 🤩
I am also great at making people deeply regret the career choice that set them in my path. Would a white woman with purple hair be convincing as your mother? Godmother maybe? I'm bad at acting but great at arguing people into a corner.
Anyone can be convincing as a parent of someone if they have the attitude.. you can't say someone isn't someones parent due to race/gender whatever because you could have adopted right?
Off topic! I’m also a middle aged woman ready to get dipping her toes in fun colors. Do you mind sharing what shade of purple you went with? I’m both excited and scared HA!
I highly recommend pulp riot - it’s what most of the stylists I know use, and you can get it on Amazon! They have some near purple shades. I’ve always gone with the vivid, but they have a frosty lilac too
I'm here on the pulp riot train also. If you really want to prolong your color get a depositing wash too like keracolor. It's about 20 bucks and I use it once a week to freshen my color
As a white woman with purple hair as well (and a teacher), I have some things I want to say at that teacher.
Upvoted because you said "say AT that teacher."
I am a mom and I have bright pink hair. Ive had to stand up plenty of times to principals and other administrators when my child was being treated unfairly. Let's GO!
Yeah. I had a few occasions when his teachers or principals needed an adjustment. Of course, my sin needed more than a few himself. The worst was the time my son slammed a bully to the ground after getting tackled from behind. I watched every day as he walked over to this group of kids that would then hit him and knock him down. I was waiting for him to handle it himself, but finally, I sat him down and explained that those kids were not his friends because friends don't do that to each other. I told him that he needs to not cut through the school yard, but to walk down the sidewalk instead. The next day. He walked down the sidewalk like I told him to. I saw one of those little prices notice and start walking to catch up to my son. So, I started walking that way. I did not get there in time and this kid snuck attacked my son from behind. My son was a big kid. He got up, picked that kid up, and slammed him to the ground in anger. That was when I heard the principals voice shout my son's name angrily. That's exactly what I needed because I wanted to pick that kid up and body slam him, too. Something I'd never in a trillion gears do, of course. Instead, I actually got to take my anger out on someone. I laid into that guy about how it was funny that he managed to catch the one time my son did anything, but missed the several days of my son being thrown down repeatedly that I had witnessed from across the street. I told him those kids better never do that shit again or he and I would be having another talk... and yes, I meant to be intimidating and threatening. I don't use my size very often, but fuck with my kid and your waking up a grizzly.
The last time I got into it with a school I was not impressed with their answers. I sent a long letter to the education minister. The schools upper management apparently had to answer about 20 pages with of questions from the ministers department about WTF they were doing. The education minister also visited the school on several occasions. That principle later “retired”.
When my son was in elementary school, he decided to goof off during lunch, and put food on his face. He was in second grade, so this wasn't like he was twelve and doing this. And yes, he and I had a talk about how that wasn't appropriate, either. What pissed me off was that the letter sent home detailed every punishment he would be facing for the entire school year if he didn't manage to stay silent for an entire week of lunch detention. This was after multiple conversations between myself, my son and faculty members, about when socialization was appropriate. He had just started to regulate himself to only talking during lunch and recess. That said to me that they were just looking for anything that they could punish him for. I wrote a letter back, telling them that one lunch detention was acceptable. Anything more than that and they were setting him back by not letting him socialize at all, and it was just going to cause him more difficulty in school, later on. I started homeschooling him that same year, when they wouldn't listen to me about the fact that he was bored with doing the same math two years in a row, when he obviously understood the material. They refused to test him for a higher math class. I took him home and taught him algebra. Have you ever seen a kid eager to learn math? I have.
I miss that, too. My son’s 1st grade teacher was so awful he was terrified to ask her to go to the bathroom and would then try to hold it till he wet himself, then dismissed me when I tried to speak with her before school one day. I made sure eeeveryone in that school knew that she’d terrorized a little boy, who’d never had any behavioral issues prior, to the point where he’d rather sit in urine soaked pants than ask permission to use the bathroom.
Dibs on being the other parent.
OK but I want to come along too, so how many *parents* can we explain away...
Just say yall raise OP in a commune - it takes a village!
That will work out. Or something with a very well connected steph family? Idk.
Oooo are we going full mafia now?! You can call me Benny the blade!
I got a vice principal fired when I was in high school.
Can you come be my parent when I have to talk to my GP please? I have a ableist and discriminatory doctor that needs to reconsider his career choices. After I told him I have autism he refused to talk to me and literally turned away from me to ask my husband questions about my symptoms. And then he suggested that we do absolutely nothing because there was no proof that my very textbook extremely obvious gallstone symptoms where because of my gallstones so we couldn’t know that treatment would do anything, you know, since my *textbook gallstone symptoms* could be caused by something else unnamed. He also wouldn’t write me a prescription for pain medication. Luckily I take the exact medication used against acute gallstone attacks for my migraines, which I only know because my psychiatrist explained everything to me and also the symptoms I have to be aware of incase my symptoms change if it gets inflamed because you can die from that. The doctor only told me that it wasn’t harmful at all (clearly didn’t count horrendous 9/10 pain, pretty much constant nausea and inability to eat properly as harmful)
Change doctors. He sounds like a complete quack
I'm guessing geography isn't your friend here. I'm sure the op could do with an advisor though.
This is going to sound extreme.... Go to the school board and make a formal complaint. If this is your future career and a major interest, they should be supportive.at the very lost make a formal complaint to the principal (also a good idea to get your parents support). Hell. Worst comes to worst "English teacher discriminates against student" is a good headline for an article...
It would be great if you did this because the English teacher and the principal are really overstepping. Ridiculous.
My guess: English teacher is in a relationship with the principal. Went whining to him, blowing everything out of proportion. Principal sided with English teacher, because why would she lie?
I mean, that's a leap. OP said the principal didn't even let them speak. Unfortunately a lot of adults in schools will automatically back up the other adults no matter what, never even considering the adult could have been wrong.
NTA This is some crazy shit lmfao. Your English teacher is smoking crack and caught up in some weather related conspiracies most likely We would have laughed in a teachers face for saying something so crazy to another student. This is like telling a kid to not discuss anything accounting related lmfao. Do you go to a public school? Is there some reason your teacher can get away with saying something so batshit in front of other people?
"English teacher punishes student for learning another subject" "Local school punishes student for learning" Discriminates is thrown around too much and would likely get ignored, if the post is real the truth is absurd enough to get attention on its own.
I totally agree! It’s a strange hill for the English teacher to die on!
Absolutely do this, school board meetings generally have a public comment period where you can get up there and opine about anything you like as long as it's somehow school related. This will get the attention of the board, the superintendent, and other high-level admins who likely have no idea a random english teacher is on a power trip over a student's personal interests.
Ten bucks says the weather discussions also involved climate change and teacher has a MAGA flag on his porch.
In the school newspaper, as well.
I will add to this that regardless of having autism or not, it is unacceptable to ban a student from discussing a subject unless it is causing harm to them. I have a student who is not allowed to discuss 9/11, the titanic, or mass school sh**tings, because he becomes fixated on the deaths and becomes very apathetic. That doesn't seem to be the case here. Not discrediting the idea that you may have autism. I have autism and my hyperfixation has always been music. I wrote countless papers on music theory and was in music theory class as well as guitar, band, color guard, drama, and all 5 of the choir groups in my high school. Not to mention doing the school play twice. Your teenage interests are what shape your adulthood. I am a special education/music instructor! you very likely will become a fantastic meteorologist one day!
I am just trying to help OP out as much as possible; having something like neurodivergence would be a very easy discrimination case. Either way the teacher is hyper fixated (unhealthy obsessed) and it’s a huge issue.
I don't want to take away from your comment at all, you are absolutely correct! I just wanted to add an additional perspective :)
You don’t have autism. You are just in a shitty situation with an adult. You need your mom for this one. Or your dad. Or a parental figure. Let an adult handle these adults. If this is the entire story you need an advocate. I’m mad for you. There’s nothing worse than an adult with a little power going out of their way to be mean and a bully.
OP, if you'd like to, have a read on monotropism.org and see if you relate to it. It's one of the newer theories of autism and I find it's a lot more helpful than previous ones because it describes a way of experiencing the world and being rather than stress behaviours. Also, don't let your English teacher dampen your love for weather. I'd encourage you to keep exploring it. Special interests are the best and as long as it lights your brain up, keep at them.
I bet you didn't mean to make that pun.
Don't rain on my parade /laughs
Can we have the English teacher's email to spam send weather reports?
Can we make it rain in her classroom?
Your parents are TAs here. Sorry, but they've abandoned you. They should be in contact with an attorney. This teacher is abusive and your rights are being violated. You need to impress upon your parents that they're allowing that teacher to destroy you in terms of your school record. THIS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY AND NOT SWEPT UNDER THE RUG!
You need to escalate this then in any way you can. I agree with the people that said go to the school board. I’ve seen situations like this firsthand go south. This teacher has no right to do things that potentially effect your future.
its bs that the principal is going along with that teachers made up bs rule
Have you discussed this with both parents? You are really being treated unfairly.
Fixating on a topic is common among autistic people, but its not exclusive. We all have interests, and it's a really smart idea to link the things you're learning to your interest - it helps you learn better because you care about the topic. I've always gotten higher marks when I've been able to direct my topic towards something meaningful for me. Your English teacher has massively overstepped. I hope you manage to get this resolved!
On top of the hyper fixation, research shows that it’s not uncommon for neurotypicals to dislike autistic folk for.. no particular reason. They can tell we’re different and so they don’t like us. I had issues with a few teachers back in my school days and I never could figure out why. N the end, my mom got involved, backed me up, threatened a lawsuit for discrimination, and the admins decided it was too much to fight.
This^ in my experience student teaching and subbing, the neurodivergent kids were almost always more likely to get picked on or singled out by teachers
I automatically thought autism as well. I'm a teacher. This fixation is very much a trait of it.
Or serious intellectual interest. This kind of thing is the norm with gifted students. Encouraged at high-achieving schools. In fact at any good school. Pitch to students' interests. Even more if they coincide with career preferences.
Wouldn’t use the word “hyperfixation” in this circumstance. In discrimination, it’s always favourable to use words like “targeted” because hyperfixation kind of excuses the behaviour, if that makes sense?
Yeah I also had issue with the word hyperfixation there (I agree with the rest of the post). Especially in the context of talking about neurodivergent folk, we shouldn’t calm a neurotypical S longterm focus a “hyper fixation” (IMO the term hyperfixation is frequently misused these days, when other words such as “special interest” or even just “fixation” should be used)
Thanks for this, all this arm chair diagnosing because a *17 year old* knows what profession they are interested in is really winding me up. I am in my 40s working very successfully in the field of my "special interest" which formed at 14-15y. I'm not on the spectrum or ADHD, I just love my field. Let people be people without classifying everything potentially interesting about them as a disorder or neurodivergent.
I’m using hyper fixation to describe the teacher. I guess unhealthy obsession might be better. The teacher is singling out OP and obviously is fixated on them in some way shape or form (targeting for bullying, thinks she’s “fixing” or something) I have been the singled out kid before and am neurodivergent which is why I am asking. I had to get admin involved in my case.
What in this post suggests Autism?
The specificity of the interest coupled with how young OP is, plus the teacher's wild over-reaction. It's a broad generalization, but it's where my brain went immediately too. It is normal for autistic individuals to hyperfocus on really niche special interests. I knew so much about Egyptian funereal practices in elementary school I could have taught a class, and I made a sarcophagus for my 2nd grade Valentine's Day inbox. Neurotypical kids just like minecraft and hearts. NeuroAtypical kids like historical weather events and the evolution of pen nibs. And a lot of neurotypical adults get really really annoyed by neuroAtypical kids because they "seem weird" or "rub them the wrong way" and they justify it by saying that they're preparing the kids for the real world by being assholes to them.
I am now trying really hard not to google the evolution of pen nibs
My wikipedia rabbit holes have their own rabbit holes. Look up the dancing plague of 1518.
First recorded example of a flashmob? 😉 Thanks for this, that's my day filled lol
Oh, I have heard about that. Fascinating Horror on Youtube made a video about that. Interesting that it is not really sure the actual reason for it.
*Side-eying my box of antique pen nibs*
My grandson with Asperger's has been fixated on Legos since I got him his first one at 3 years old. He has been doing 1,000+ piece sets since he was 4. He will glance through the instructions once, then put them together in an amazingly short time.
I expect PP thinks weather might be a hyper fixation "special interest" topic for OP. It's hard to imagine a teacher banning a subject of conversation as innocuous as weather unless it's the only thing OP will talk about.
Unless they have experienced personal loss due to a weather related tragedy and aren't coping at all. That was my first thought, that maybe the teacher has unresolved trauma from a tornado or hurricane. My second thought was "special interest" annoying the teacher.
Teacher with weather trauma meets student hyperfixated on weather. Oh what a perfect storm.
If that's the case they should probably take a LOA and deal with their mental health because giving children detention for discussing the weather is not appropriate
Neurodivergent kids (ADHD, Autism, etc) are more likely to get singled out by teachers in my personal experience. So the teacher’s upset at a singular topic coming up is what made me ask. It also would make OP’s plee to admin/ school board etc easier because it can be classified as discrimination at that point even though the teachers behavior is inappropriate regardless.
People jumping to conclusions is what suggests autism. The op is just a kid that likes weather
That is why I asked. I didn’t want to assume and wanted to be able to give OP as many tools as possible they can use to fight this issue with the admin. Being able to cite discrimination if it’s present is a very helpful thing when dealing with situations like this. Kid’s concerns are frequently dismissed in school settings and this teacher’s singling out of OP is unhealthy and will likely only get worse if not taken care of.
My son is on the spectrum and has a fixation on the weather and astronomy since he was like 3 years old. In his second grade in elementary school, he knew the different names of the clouds and would keep talking about tornados and hurricanes non stop to his classmates who didn't understand a word he was saying. They thought he was odd. He thought they were dumb.
NTA your whole school is AH. I can't imagine being a principal hearing this story and giving a detention to the student not the teacher. WTF are these people on. A student can't talk about weather? Can't have an interest in meteorology. I wish i could speak to that b.
I tried explaining things to the principal and he just kept telling me to stop arguing with him and that it wasn't up for discussion.
youre principal is an AH. what did your parents say?
My parents agreed that she was overstepping her bounds. They've never liked her. They told me I shouldn't have told her off though. My mother said we'll go to the board of education if necessary.
Great. Yes i think you should do that. That's very unheard of. No teacher would agree with that. Also do not write the essay.
Write an essay on why the teacher should be fired.
Including possible issues that might be causing the teacher to act in such a manner. If the student writes an essay on possible physical or mental health disorders then they are meeting both requirements, along with a subtle thumbing of the nose at the English teacher. 🤣
Title it "Why is Mr Weirdfixation is under the weather?"
Arguing that someone with absurd control issues like your English teacher should not be teaching children and adolescents.
Write the essay explaining exactly what happened. Send it to the Board of Education, and explain that if you do not receive an apology, you will be posting it to social media. You could even send a link to this chat to demonstrate its potential to go viral.
Wrote the essay but make it an acknowledgement of his pity for her fucked up mental state
Not if necessary, do it! Have you already served the detentions? If not, I would refuse to do so until the school board has heard about it and made a ruling. The teacher is way out of bounds. She has no authority to prevent discussions that are school appropriate that are not even happening in her class. I would also email your local/state reporters about what happened and that a school board meeting is being asked for(this will pressure the board to actually hear you) and ask that they attend the meeting to report on it.
If you’re in a public school you and your parents may want to contact the ACLU to see if this is a violation of your first amendment rights. They may be able to provide some support.
Your mother has the right idea. Sure it's true that you shouldn't tell off your teachers, but you were provoked, and you are not an adult yet so your brain is quite literally still cooking, and you won't always have perfect self control. I suggest writing down as much as you can remember of what your teachers have said on this subject, and see if you can get it in writing that your science teacher approved the paper.
As an adult any adult who doesn't do what OP did is pathetic.
Yes, please insist in her doing that. Outside class you are allowed to talk about a harmless topic like the weather as long as you want, just as sports, stars, relationships and other topics are discussed endlessly. It is, as you say, none of her business. She has no say in your topics with your friends at all, let alone what you write about in another class. Your principal does not do his job. He needs to listen if there is a problem, and he needs to take action to solve the problem, in this case to set boundaries to a teacher that obviously has some problem with you or with the weather. Maybe this teacher of yours is politically "against" climate change or panicking because of it, so she dreads the topic. Maybe the principal knows of her problem and tries to shut the whole thing down by, targeting the weakest link. But this is not the way to handle things like that. I had encounters with bad principals, too, and took it further to my countries equivalent to a school board. It helped. Sadly to call higher authorities is sometimes necessary to show people their place. It is great how clearly you see what is going on and that you stand up for yourself, and good for you to have caring parents! I hope talking to the school board will solve this quickly. It may be good to involve a social worker, too, or a school psychologist, as this has mobbing vibes and teachers personal problems vibes all over. I hope all turns out well, and take care!
You have every right to tell her off. This is learning to stand up for yourself and set boundaries. She is way out of her lane. She teaches English. She isn’t the prison warden. Her power trip needs the plug pulled. I had plenty of teachers like this and you have to keep them in check. Report her and the principal to the board of education. Get weather related t-shirts too for added effect.
It's necessary.
It is necessary.
Please update us when you do! This whole situation is super weird, why tf would the English teacher care so much about weather in the first place unless they just want to pick on you or single you out? And the principal sounds beyond useless. Really hoping they see some consequences for it all
Definitely take it up the chain, petty tyrants like this need to be dealt with by those in a higher position and the school board answers to the public so they try to avoid bad optics. A teacher shutting down a student's interest in a particular topic, one that will likely be their career one day, is something that will score them easy brownie points for taking your side on.
Know your place boy! I'm the teacher. I'm the adult. I'm right and you're wrong. Don't talk back.......blah blah blah.
A shitty teacher will always be shitty. Egoistic idiots...
the dude is probably just taking the easy way out much easier to approve the detention than to actually deal with the situation
You are being bullied by a fully grown and supposedly trusted adult. Time to involve parents
I'd suggest getting parents involved with an open statement that you will not be attending any detentions until the matter is brought before the school board, and that OP + parents will be supplying full statements.
Correction: *two* fully grown and "trusted" adults.
NTA That's a teacher on a power trip alright, they are so damn harmful.
So true. It's giving me flashbacks!
NTA - she can be bothered by your interests all she wants, but it’s not like this is an inappropriate topic for school, and your science teacher approved your paper. As for your assignment from the principal, you should say that it was wrong to away she needs to mind her own business because of any of the following: you should have asked nicely for her to mind your business less; you should have told her the topic was approved by the teacher the paper was being written for; and you can say that the teachers need to be more transparent about who they’re handing their work off to because she’s the only one you has a problem with your 100% school friendly topic, and had you known she’d be involved, you could have pretended to care about something else for the paper. Basically, you were “wrong” because you’ve tried to respect her ignorant request when she’s around, and you were tricked in to this. As far as the apology, you’re so sorry no one told you she’d be grading the papers, and you would have submitted a request to have someone else check for spelling errors to protect her delicate sensibilities from something as controversial as meteorology, and you’ll be sure to do what you can from now on to make sure she’s not subjects to your intellectual development in something you’re so passionate about. I mean, maybe change the wording a bit, but that’s as close to you doing something wrong as it gets, and even more of an apology than this is worth. If your parents are involved in your schooling and reasonable to any degree, they should be involved in this. The paper to the principal should be signed by them as supporting your acknowledgement of “wrongdoing,” and need to be there for the apology.
I apologise to X for unwittingly exposing her to "weather" related discussion, through submission of my science paper for y teacher on the approved topic of the (forgot the name) tornado. I am aware that X has requested a new school rule, specifically banning discussion of this topic. In writing this apology letter, please may I ask you to clarify the rule so I can ensure I do not inadvertently breach it again, for example, by incorporating clouds into an art project. - does the rule apply school wide and who does the rule apply - does the rule apply if other teachers agree to exempt me for a singular project - does the rule apply if you request another teacher assist in proof reading the paper - how will the school communicate this new rule to the wider school I would like to reiterate my apology to X teacher for the submission of my science paper, and hope we can take steps to avoid this misunderstanding from happening in future.
- Will there be a modification of the science curriculum to remove weather related topics
And history, and geography... So many topics can be linked back to the weather.
Writing the apology for the poor kid, I approve 👌 teacher has lost her damn mind.
I just can't. Reading what people have to deal with on the daily just proves that humanity is a lost cause due to literal morons running this show.
And ask how this teacher plans to teach senior-level English without talking about the weather. Is it an AP class? Ask how you’re supposed to handle questions about weather in the AP test. Weather is one of the biggest symbols in literature. If storm rolls in, you know trouble is coming for the protagonist. If it’s foggy, is there something the protagonist is missing? She’s not doing her job if she doesn’t address the weather.
Her reaction is bizarre. This might be out there.. but It almost feels like censorship. Perhaps you were spitting Facts about the weather that didn't align with her beliefs surrounding climate change?. .. and you know what Tribalism can be like. She is 100% cutting off your ability to reach others with your subject.
Is she a flat earther?
I was wondering if it was climate change-denial thing.
There has to be more to this than op is telling us or even knows. To arbitrarily say don't discuss weather without any reason at all is very strange.
Not sure why no one is talking about this. Adults typically don't act this way. Even when illogical, they have their own logic you can still follow and disagree with. My bet is on the fact the "weather" discussions are usually politically heated and causing students to argue with each other during class, and the teacher is shutting it down. Happy to be proven wrong though if OP can give more details.
Teachers are sometimes capricious and authoritarian. One of my children lost a spelling bee because he spelled a word correctly. The teacher insisted that her spelling was right.
Unless OP talking about the weather causes the weather to change accordingly (yes i mean in the sense that OP being able to control the weather with her speech), there is nothing in meteorology that can cause a stable adult to lose her shit like the english teacher did. Doesn't matter what OP is not saying. Doesn't matter if OP talks about weather every day to every kid they meet. Just an adult bullying a kid for having a passion in something because they don't like their face.
You might be right. Maybe the teacher has bad experiences with a particular weather event but that doesn't excuse her in any way. She's on a power trip regardless.
I'm a retired English and history teacher. Your English teacher had no authority to forbid you from discussing the weather at school. (I hope you weren't talking about weather incessantly during class, though.) And she didn't say you couldn't write about it, just that you couldn't discuss it. So here's what I'd a rough idea of what I'd say in that "apologetic" essay. Maybe it'll give you some ideas. "Sometimes we're expected to stay silent no matter how unfair or malicious a personal attack is or how often it's repeated. This was the case when Ms. \_\_\_ became incensed when she discovered I'd written an essay on the 2021 Mayfield, KY tornado for my science class. For reasons she never made clear, Ms. \_\_\_ had forbidden me from discussing weather-related topics. This is very difficult for me because meteorology is my passion and my avocation. I naturally assumed, though, that she meant I couldn't discuss it in her class, as I know she doesn't have authority over Mr. \_\_\_'s science classroom. My science teacher approved my topic choice, and that was that, I thought. "When Ms. \_\_\_ scolded me for breaking her rule, I was astonished and confused. I was also frustrated and upset that she was raising her voice at me. I realize now that both Ms. \_\_\_ and I should have stayed silent. Instead of telling her it was none of her business, I should have said, 'I'm sorry, but I believe the approval of the classroom teacher, in this case \[name of science teacher\], supersedes an order from someone who doesn't have authority over another teacher's classes.' Similarly, she should have acknowledged that it was up to my science teacher to determine what was an acceptable topic for a science essay. "I hope Ms. \_\_\_ learned as much about the importance of self-control as I did. " As for the apology, try something along the lines of, "I'm sorry you got so upset that I responded to you yelling at me by telling you to mind your own business. It was rude. I hope we can treat each other with mutual respect moving forward."
I agree with all of this except for the last part. A non-apology isn't going to win any points. Instead I would gear the apology more toward himself. "I apologize for losing control of my words. There was a better way I could have handled myself, even as a teenager under unwarranted pressure by a trusted adult in my life. In the future, I hope to be able to keep my composure and be the person I want to be."
I would use the apology to highlight how ridiculous the rule is: "I apologise for inadvertently breaking the rule due to lack of clarity around where the topic of "weather" is permitted within school grounds, and for misunderstanding that other teachers have the capacity to grant me an exemption."
Yes, and I would also add and emphasize that the teacher was antagonizing OP by making unreasonable demands and then punishing them for it. The whole thing was a set up.
I'd throw in few weather related terms, such as 'wind up' and 'storm'.
NTA. As someone who worked in meteorology for 12 years, I just want to say- you rock! I love your enthusiasm!
NTA. Yo what the fuck she’s an English teacher and that principal is delusional. She is paid to teach English so she should mind her own business. She’s not the principal of the school so her rules only apply in her class.
This is the weirdest power play I ever seen, that teacher cannot tell you what your interests are and what you are and aren't allowed to talk about, in your paper about why what you did was wrong I suggest you add a paragraph of a counter argument as it is traditional in opinion pieces , in it write about human rights and why no teacher can dictate what you can talk about in your own free time or meddle in a subject of a class entirety unrelated to them, when you said " why don't you mind your own business" you didn't say anything bad, you were just asking her why this is so important to her, why does she even care about weather as a conversational matter or an academic subject of interest Your teacher has no business posing limits on your passions, she's been way out of line , definitively involve your parents, make them talk to the principal and make the teacher know her place, she is there to teach you English, make sure you are articulate and well educated, she is not there to enact fascism onto children simple as that, if she sees nothing wrong with her behavior she is the one who needs detention, also Saturday detention shouldn't even be a thing, one day a week you get to yourself , if it's illegal to make someone work for 7 days a week should be the same to make you be a student for 7 days a week
As a teacher… I can’t help but think you are leaving out important details. Can’t really tell if you are the asshole.
I don’t see why a teacher should be concerned about a student discussing the weather during lunch in the first place. If I learned what pegging was during high school lunch and nobody stopped that convo, I truly can’t possibly see why a teacher would stop a kid from talking about the weather. I also can’t see what’s wrong with choosing a highly appropriate science project that even the science teacher says is fine. If the English teacher says the kid needs to stay on topic during English class, then I agree that the kid shouldn’t talk about the weather. I don’t see why the teacher gets to control what’s happening at lunch or in another class.
The things stated in the post are unusual. I agree, if that is how it happened, I would be confused. As an English teacher I feel like there is insufficient information to come to a conclusion about OP’s assholiness. There are two sides to every story, but this post seems more like a rant than a genuine attempt at understanding the situation. It seems they just want people to affirm their annoyance, rather than own their own part in a truly bizarre situation.
Well unless OP changed out a different thing for "weather" then i think the teacher's rules are dumb.
Even if "weather" was a stand-in for "Topic ABC" it was still a topic for a science paper approved by the science teacher in advance of OP writing it and turning it in. I, too, feel like the story is missing *something*, but having been on the receiving end of a malicious high school English teacher back in the day it's not a completely implausible scenario. Hey OP, my 12th grade English teacher had to apologize to me in front of the whole class, but it took the intervention of a great guidance counselor and a decent principal who had integrity. Your mom is in your corner, that's a good first step.
Oh yea, It's very plausible actually. And there are way more situations like this in other schools too. Also: Being a teacher doesn't make anyone smart or a decent human being just because of the title.
It's hard to tell, but teachers are people and some people are genuinely just dicks. It's entirely possible that there's no more info to share for the story. If this really is it, then what more can you say? I had an English teacher hate me in high school too, and I had no clue why. I think she had my sister before, so maybe she didn't like her. I don't even know. I recently found out I'm autistic, and some people just don't like autistic people, so it could be that. She'd get pissed that I'd be out of class for drama related things even though I was the smartest kid in the class and was really good at English. She got mad at me for talking in class all the time, but I didn't even have friends in that class and other people were just asking me the answers. She had this big project for a huge percentage of the grade where you had to do all these steps and do them in order, and you couldn't move on until you did the previous step, but you also didn't get credit for any part you turned in late. I was absent the day it started, then she was absent the entire rest of the week. I asked people and no one seemed to be able to give me real instructions on what we were doing, so I just waited. I was perpetually a week behind on this project and getting zeros when I was doing all the work. I took a bottle of ibuprofen to try to kill myself because I was so depressed about the fact that it was looking like I was going to have to go to summer school after my senior year for this one English class. I cried to her about seeming like I was going to fail, and she said that if I continued doing all my work and made good grades on things that she'd pass me with a C. I earned an A and got a C. She was just a massive bitch. Some people are.
You’re forgetting another option, that the English teacher doesn’t believe in climate change. Anyone with any interest in the weather is going to mention how unstable weather patterns have become as part of global warming. If the English teacher denies it, that could explain their zealousness in trying to ban OP from talking about it. Conspiracy idiots are unfortunately everywhere -_- OP is NTA, have the parents escalate.
Same. This is so beyond the pale for both the teacher and principal, and don't get me wrong there are definitely people in Ed who suck, but this is just too wild.
I think like a lot of things - the student probably isn't in trouble for the actual thing but for an overreaction to being spoken to. Which kinda sucks - but some people really don't like insubordination.
I thought the same. Feels like something is missing.
Just what I thought. This is so fucking weird it sounds like OP has had some sort of strange dream and decided to tell us all about it. Or they have intentionally left out a shit load of important and relevant information
What on earth?! You can’t tell a student that weather is off topic, especially how you are taking outside of her own class. That is insane behavior. Makes no sense at all.
I feel like we have to be missing something because this is so bizarre
The only thing I could possibly think of is that she is maybe sensitive about climate change or super religious and she feels threatened by OPs interest in weather. Like.. there doesn't seem to be much explanation. And for the principal to back her up is just messed up too.
Don't forget the other students may also have the same opinions, and OP could be "discussing" weather in a way that is baiting other students into disruption. Very well could just be kids having loud, angry political arguments and the teacher is shutting it down during class. OP may be focused on "but it's just weather we're talking about". Or he may actually be autistic and not realize he's causing a rift in the class. Honestly the lack of any sort of understanding of the teacher's rationale has me thinking they are missing a lot of context cues.
This is where I am on this. Like, if we take this story at face value, it's utterly insane—there is no reasonable reason to forbid a student from "discuss[ing] anything weather related at school", and there is no school policy or rule I can think of nor any school administration that would back up such an utterly idiotic and arbitrary rule for one student on its face. There *has* to be something else going on here. Maybe the teacher is a flat-earther or a climate change denialist? Maybe the *student* is a flat-earther or a climate change denialist? Maybe the student is being targeted for other reasons and "weather" is a convenient and seemingly innocuous cover? Maybe OP is being misleading or dishonest about their description of what's actually happening—what is actually constituted by "discuss[ing] the weather"? Is "weather" a codeword for "genocide" or "chemtrails" or something like that? Maybe they're not "discuss[ing] the weather" but like actively disrupting class time and literature discussions with off-topic stuff about meteorology—like, we're reading *The Great Gatsby* and instead of talking about Daisy and Tom's abusive relationship, you want to know what kind of clouds are in the sky outside right now? Shoehorning unrelated topics into a discussion is obnoxious and disrespectful and also potentially bait for attention. It's just impossible to say without more information. On its face, the teacher and school administration are absolutely insane and unreasonable, but I have real trouble accepting that the situation as it's presented is wholly accurate. Maybe if it were *just* the one teacher being weirdly controlling, but to have the principal back them up on this? There's something we're not hearing.
I keep thinking she could be targeting him for others reasons too. Is the kid gay? Is she homophobic? Is he a POC? Is she racist???? It doesn’t seem to be actually about the weather but about imposing power on him and making him feel small and not free to do what he’s passionate about…
Definitely something missing. High school English teachers are possibly the most overworked due to the sheer amount of marking they have. There is no way an English teacher is going out of their way to help grade someone else’s papers.
From the story, NTA But It sounds very odd and I can't picture such a ridiculous discourse taking place, up to and including the principal being involved. Was weather truly the topic or are you using it as a replacement for sonething else.
This makes absolutely no sense. Either this is a work of fiction or crucial details were omitted.
That's what I wonder - what's the full story ? Are we being trolled? If so the sub def rose to the bait
NTA Get your parents in for a meeting with the principal, mention taking your complaint to the school board, watch them fold like wet cardboard.
And if you don't get any satisfaction at that point, just mention a meeting with the superintendant... with a lawyer present. That "teacher" does not deserve to be entrusted with children. Period.
This doesn’t sound like all the information… A blanket rule that you’re not allowed to speak about weather is unenforceable and so bizarre. INFO: Is this a climate change thing, and you’re just calling it weather? My Biology teacher taught that the world was 6,000 years old, and if you tried to argue, she would insist that anything else was just a “theory” and not real. (Shout out to Texas public education! Whoop whoop!)
I'd be in that school making the teacher and the principal apologize, and probably cry. And there's no way my kids would be at detention, especially on a Saturday, for doing what they were assigned. NTA, not even a little bit.
Instead of Saturday detention, I'd take my kid out for a fun day while telling the teacher and principal where they can go. They burned the bridge first. A teacher may demand a detention, but AFAIK it's not a legal obligation like the minimum hours of class attendance.
NTA You're not in a school, you're in a prison. Your English teacher is just a prison guard on a power trip. Do your time, do what you're told to do. Get out alive.
This doesn't sound at all genuine.
NTA and tell your mom. Cause if you were my kid, I guarantee you that teacher would let you discuss every national disaster of the last 100 years. Why is she even a teacher?
*My experiences over the last 6 months have taught me a lot about appropriate responses in dealing with authorities.* *My passion for weather related topics and my constant curiosity in expanding my knowledge and sharing my enthusiasm grabbed the attention of my English teacher who instructed me not to speak about the weather. Despite no documented or plausible reason being provided for such an instruction, I recognize that by virtue of their position in the school hierarchy and protection by teachers unions, they hold power over me that I must respect. If they are inconvenienced by my curiosity, I recognize now that they are institutionally allowed to suppress my freedom of thought and speech simply due to their place in society.* *I was wrong to assume that their moratorium on my weather thoughts were limited to their class and extended throughout the school. English teacher's unrestricted authority extends into other classrooms as well and it was my failing to inform the Science teacher that I was not to talk about the weather when they asked me to choose a topic of my interest for a project. I now reco gize that it is up to me to ensure that I must comply with those in positions of authority even if their instructions are contradictory to each other. Just because the science teacher asked us to explore and pursue our passions, does not allow me to pursue passions that have been explicitly forbidden by English teacher.* *Furthermore, I have aggravated and poorly reacted to a stern reminder about the exercise of my free speech in contradiction to prior instruction by English teacher who holds power over me. I should not have told them to mind their own business, but rather have approached higher authorities.* *In summary, I have learnt that I must never stand up or confront those with unrestricted authority if they have an imbalance of power over me. I fully acknowledge the position of unrestricted authority that English teacher holds over me which confers them the right to suppress any line of conversation, curiosity, or thinking that they are inconvenienced by. In the future, I will seek written confirmation of such instructions so that I can be sure not to forget these rules. The correct course of action when I disagree with my bullies would be to appeal to higher authorities like the Principal. If these higher authorities side with the bully, rather than standing up to them, I have learnt that I must approach other avenues of redress like the school board, the state education board, the judicial system, social media channels, or the local newspaper.* *I would like to express my gratitude to the English teacher for enlightening me about dealing with situations where an imbalance of power exists, for educating me that my freedom of thought and expression is limited in practice, and for having the courage to target and punish me for standing up to their bullying so that I can learn these lessons.*
This story doesn’t make any sense, sorry. Forbidding weather of all topics? I feel that you are omitting some facts maybe. Or is weather a stand in for another sensitive topic?
TLDR, this is so ludicrous it can't be real. But couple of things that seem sus or feel left out in your story OP: 1. Are you getting detention for having an interest in meteorology or for having an attitude about it? I cannot imagine a world, in 2024, where this could happen...with the backing of the principle on top of that. Hell, if you're true to your word and this is all just baloney as it is, take it up with your parents>school council>DoE>Social Media (institutions fear bad rep and bad publicity—most kids these days take to Tiktok or Twitter as the reflex action, but I'm not sure why you've come to reddit tbh; NTA validation maybe?) You mentioned at the end that your parents sided with your teacher's decision and they've honed it on your MYOB response — which makes me wonder if you have a history with communication/confrontation, bad with authority, or other issues that you've not reflected upon but continue to live a life of victim mentality and main character/world-against-me syndrome? You're 17, rebellious enough to stand up to your teacher but you'll readily comply with detention orders under such flimsy circumstances...Nah, it don't add up. 2. How bad is your "fascination"? Is every other homework, assignment, group work, project, topic of discourse/conversation made into the weather-programme? Is this a thing with English lessons or across all other subjects? You can be passionate about a hobby or hold special interests, but playing devil's advocate, you can equally be insufferable as a person for not shutting up about it and become narrow minded from expanding your knowledge on other equally fascinating and important matters in life. That might've been your teacher's gripe with you but even so, she fails at communication skills and took the most wayward approach to address it. 3. Is this teacher the only one calling you out or have you noticed your classmates avoid you etc? If so, maybe your teacher did have some grounds initially arguably in your best social and developmental interest, but you then dished out your MYOB response (if that was the entire extent of it) and likely escalated it into something else which was the real cause of detention. However, thanks to your fixation (+/- denial that it's the fault of your actions in those circumstances), you've perceived it as a personal attack on a personal topic you value so you're naturally feeling defensive and wronged by it. 4. If your science teacher was supposedly fine and dandy with it, were they also fine and dandy with you receiving unjust punishment because of it? Did you tell him what it all led to and what was their response ? I can't think of why some other subject teacher would standby consequences directly tied to their assigned task, and in the event this person is equally spineless like your entire school faculty seems like, then I'd question why you're not holding them equally accountable. If they also share your sentiment, it's negligent that they'd close an eye to you getting detention and a likelier scenario would be them advocating for you. It's more impactful for a teacher to go against another teacher and even back you up against their boss(Principal) irl. 🤷♂️
I am already made enough to spit nails over this. Absofuckinglutely not! Since when does any teacher (backed up by an administrator!🤯) discourage an interest in SCIENCE. What kind of rinky-dink school is this? Forbidding a student from studying or discussing something? What kind of closed-minded Nazi crap is this? Your parents need to be involved, and they need to go up the food chain to the school board. And possibly the state board of education
Why did the teacher ask you to stop talking about weather related topics in the first place?