Quick story about judging kids for parental poverty -

I went to school with no gym kit. My mum & dad had split up, it was mid 70s. Mum had addiction, mental illness’s. A PE teacher dragged me out in front of the class to make an example of me for having no kit

And she wanted to give me the “strap” a leather belt on my hands because I had no PE shoes or shorts to play hockey. This happened a few times. My mum didn’t have money to buy me a kit. I sometimes borrowed other girls stuff

This day she reminded me in front of the whole class that the school had given my mum a small grant to buy the kit. She drank that money and now I was to be strapped on the hands for her fecklessness

I refused to put up and offer my hands by saying “so, you are going to beat me for being poor and for having a mum who spent the money? Why don’t I go get mum abs you can hit her?”

She went CRAZY with anger at me pointing this out. I got up courage and ran off and got Mr Burgess my guidance teacher and through tears and snot I explained “she wants to hit me because my mammy spent the money”

He stood between me and the PE teacher who at this point has LOST IT and calmed her down, she was determined to smack me with a belt, he brought me in a gym kit the next day and saved me from being hit and from Ridicule.

Be Mr Burgess ( who I nicknamed The Sweeney, you’ll see why) don’t punish kids for poverty. #FreeSchoolMeals