Childhood+Memory+Essay

Everybody that I know has gotten in trouble before. A select few of them get in trouble for sexual harassment. However, a couple others and I are among a very rare breed of kids who got accused for it in fourth grade. I do not believe that it was truly sexual harassment, but the lady in the office thought it was.

I was at a baseball practice at my school receiving fly balls from my coach with the rest of the team. That was the time when we could talk about anything we wanted because the coach couldn’t hear us. During that drill, we would tease and talk about inappropriate things. I had just caught my ball and gone to the back of the line and someone from another school was telling jokes. It was mostly just dumb knock-knock jokes which everyone already knew. Then when I was about to stop paying attention to the jokes, the next one caught my attention. It started with spell IHOP.I was very interested because I would never have thought of spelling IHOP. The joke was: “Spell IHOP, then say –nes.” I thought it was absolutely hilarious. That joke caused everyone to miss the balls due to the light-hearted feeling going through the team. Considering most of the people went to the same school as the comedic boy, I thought I could be the first person to say it at Loma Vista Elementary.

It was lunch time and people were eating their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Oreos. I had been waiting for the perfect time to tell my joke; then, there was a long silence and I began to deliver my humorous statement. Half way through the saying, I thought of the possible consequences, but I didn’t think they would be able to connect it to me. So I completed the joke. It took a couple seconds for everyone to understand, but once the first person got it, there was a chain reaction followed by a roar of laughter. That whole lunch was full of people repeating the same joke over and over again to the same people. However, they still laughed like it was the first time it went through their ear canals to the ear drum, and into the inner ear. I felt proud of myself. In that grade, I hardly had any friends and with the way I looked, fat and with glasses, I didn’t think I was getting any soon. But that joke had given me a week of popularity. Unfortunately, the joke’s humor had died down, and my popularity ended. Four weeks later, I rarely heard people saying the clever saying, but it was still evident. I was back to having only a couple friends and that wasn’t enough for me anymore. I wanted to be really popular in my fourth grade class of eighty people.

Again, it was lunch time. We ate our food, and went down to the field to play soccer. Like usual, one team was stacked when the other was me and some football players. It was Thursday, so it was my class’ turn to go into the computer lab. The lab was a once a week replacement for silent reading right after lunch, it was a rare and fun occasion. I had begun my work on the computer and was flying through the easy math questions of the day. About halfway through, Mrs. Donatelli, my teacher, had called me out of the room. My heart sank deep into my large intestine. I had never been in trouble before, and I knew I was about to be caught for something.

One of the people who somewhat considered me a friend was already outside talking to my teacher. He had told her something that I did. Mrs. Donatelli asked me if I told him a joke, and the joke I had told him was so long ago that I couldn’t even remember it off hand. I answered no to her question, and of course, he said I was lying. I then had a recollection of telling my joke four weeks earlier. So, having my awesome integrity, I told her that I told him one four weeks prior to the current meeting. I was then sent to the office. Apparently, my “friend” had told it to another boy who then told a girl. The girl was so upset, that she went home crying that day and told her parents. They then called the school complaining about one boy. That boy told on another boy who told on me. It was completely ridiculous.

In the office, there was a plump attendant who just seemed like an angry person at heart that didn’t like kids at all. She made me call my dad to tell him what I had done. He couldn’t hear through the phone due to our washing machine being fixed, so he said he would come to the school and talk to me in person. That was the last thing I wanted to happen; it was hard enough just dialing the phone number. They sent me back to my class to await the arrival of my father. I had been so scared of how he was going to react, that I couldn’t pay attention to my work. Mrs. Donatelli had received a phone call and told me to go up to the evaluation room (at least that’s how I thought of it). As I walked through the doorway, I began crying. My teacher stopped me and talked to me. “You are only a kid, Jared;” she said “you’re allowed to make mistakes.” I didn’t care, because she didn’t know my father.

On the walk back up, I regained my composure. Once I stepped in and saw my dad, I again burst into tears. I couldn’t imagine telling him, but I had to. The bitter chubster in the office made me explain what I had done again. He asked what the joke was and I told him. He didn’t understand it. I had to painfully explain the joke. Suddenly, I was hit by a wave of relief. My dad had begun laughing! I was so happy I almost pointed and laughed at the evil thing on the other side of the desk. My dad then elaborated on why he laughed. It wasn’t because he thought the joke was funny, he thought it was funny how they called it sexual harassment. They tried to put an adult term on a childish saying.

They sent me back to my class where the day ended normally. My dad had me tell my mom, which was also very hard; but I got no punishment at home. I was full of joy. My biggest fear was being grounded and thankfully, I wasn’t. My only penalty was two weeks recess in the office with the other boys that had told the joke. That still seemed like the end of the world, but the principle was so nice that she let us play board games every day. This experience taught me that I truly need to think of what I say and not trust everyone with something that is potentially problematic. The reprimanding of me was completely unnecessary considering I told it to a group of boys; but a girl’s feelings were hurt, so they tried to get as many boys in trouble as possible. The next year, my brother had gotten in trouble for sexual harassment also. He did a touchdown dance in school. He lied on the ground and acted like sizzling bacon. My dad also took that very well. Again, he thought they were overreacting. These incidents completely changed my family’s view of the schools’ punishment systems. We learned to not take what they say too seriously.