She sat down. With unapologietic indifference she said, "Does it happen very often?"
"Not that I'm aware of but it shouldn't happen once. It was directed toward one of our teachers."
"Nathaniel's home room teacher?"
"Yes."
"The one who puts him in the coats with his nose against the wall— the one they call the Reclasaur. Yes, I've heard about her. As a homeroom mother I've witnessed her. Matter of fact, I was planning to come to see the principal about this Mrs. Recla. You just gave me the incentive. Do you approve of teachers doing that to students?"
"Not really; but from what I've heard he never pays attention in class."
"Who would, with violence being perpetrated in the classroom. Would you pay attention to this discussion if I threw coffee in your lap? Of course, not. You'd be concerned about how you feel from coffee being spilt on you. We learn what we have to to learn to survive in our environment but if the environment is all bad than we withdraw from it. Daydreaming is one of many defense mechanisms not listed in psychology texts. It's used by children when old things like Recla don't know how to make them enjoy learning. It's used to escape if confined in violent environments. If he is stripped of daydreaming and is being coerced back into an unfriendly environment he'll use words—any words violently. Sure, with enough words being used violently as a teenager one then moves them into the concrete realm of actions. I really should remove him from school altogether. This is not the road I want him traveling on."
"I'll ask Mrs. Recla to not use him as an example in front of the class.
Discipline like that can be humiliating to a boy."
"Damned right it can."
"Do you always use profanity in your home in what you call choice occasions?"