Solomon's Private File #89
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 17 in this story, in the Spring of 2043.
Solomon's Private File #89 "Kids and School"
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I asked to see the principle of a school. At the appointed time, I
ported to his office. After polite things, I said, "My main personal
interests are in the psychology and neurology of developing brains, and
education." He said, "I've heard of your work. Groundbreaking!" I said,
"Er, thanks, but I ask you to use another term that doesn't remind me
of earthquakes." He said, "Oh! Reasonable." I said, "Across all social
and economic backgrounds, and even intelligence levels, what causes
students to have the most problems in school?" He said, "I can't think
of something that meets your criteria." I said, "Lack of respect for
them as individual human beings. Finland proves that." He thought some,
and said, "I'm beginning to understand it. Please continue." I said,
"Every human being wants to be treated fairly, which usually is
weighted in a more self centered way than they want to admit." He
nodded with a smile. I said, "In non violent social interactions, what
do most people consider to be most unfair?" He said, "I think, being
accused of something bad they didn't do." I said, "And what's the worst
way that happens?" He said, "I'm at a loss." I said, "When it's in
public, and the victim is powerless to do anything about it, and in the
further consequences it causes." He said, "I see. Could even ruin their
lives." I said, "Let's add to that, that the accuser believes he is
right, with no evidence, but doesn't care to check for the truth. What
happens to the victim then, who is even punished for it?" He said,
"That's very bad. It could cause lasting psychological damage." I said,
"And for a child?" He said, "Very bad! Worse, actually."
I said, "Many of the students who come to my school have experienced
that a lot. They knew too much, and thought too well. They weren't just
disbelieved, they were accused of cheating, and punished, even when
there was no evidence of that. It causes us to invest a lot of work in
them to help their minds heal from that damage, before our teaching
methods can be successful with them." He said, "I'm sorry! I can see
how that would happen, very easily. The unfairness of that must have
really hurt them." I said, "So you would disapprove of that situation?"
He said, "Yes, very much so!" I said, "Then why are you doing it here?"
He said with some heat, "We are NOT doing that here!" I said, "Not only
am I unable to lie, but have you known me to ever make a statement I
couldn't prove?" He said, "Oh. Which teachers?" I told him. He looked
surprised, and said, "I see where this is going. We screwed up." I
nodded, and said, "I want to see those teachers." He was about to
protest, when I said, "If you don't bring them here, I will send my
images to them in their classrooms, and berate them in front of their
students. Your wrongs WILL be corrected! Our way, or MY way." He said,
"And if I call the police?" I said, "They already know about this. You
should know that I prepare very thoroughly. I knew this could happen.
You should also know that people who don't cooperate with me in a just
mission, usually end up much worse than if they had. The past President
of China learned that very quickly." That really got his attention.
I said, "Do unto others. How would you like to feel their anger,
outrage, humiliation, and soul eating frustration, as your own, and
have all this all over the news?" He gulped. He said, "Wait! I'll get
them." He buzzed his secretary, and asked for those teachers. I said,
"I suggest you review your own concept of fairness. If you believed in
it, this wouldn't have had to go this far. A person who is in charge of
children, who needs threats of real punishment to act fairly, well, I
hope you learn from this." He nodded in dejection. I said, "I will
start with them just like I started with you. Well, I AM an educator.
You will be silent until I'm finished with them. Do you understand that
your situation will worsen if you disobey me?" He said, "Yes. I haven't
heard of you being like this before." I said, "You harmed CHILDREN in
your selfish lazy arrogance! Children I have befriended, and because of
it. I will NOT let that go." He had some mixed emotions about that.
The three teachers came in. There were enough chairs. One said, "Will
this take long? I have to get back to my class." I said, "It will take
as long as it does." The principle nodded. They obviously recognized
me. I led them through my topic as I had done with the principle. The
three hotly denied doing anything like that. I said, "Have some
students said anything about me, knowing me, for instance, recently?"
They nodded. I said, "Name them." They did. I said, "And what did they
say?" They told me. I said, "Let's talk about the language issue. They
said I had helped them to improve. Was there evidence of improvement?"
They said there was. I said, "But you disbelieved they had improved.
Please explain." One said, "They cheated." I said, "Oh. Well, what
evidence did you have for that?" He said, "I don't have any. But they
must have." I said, "So you accused them of a doing a bad thing,
without evidence that it actually happened?" He said, "But they had
to!" I said, "I thought teachers were supposed to be intelligent and
educated. Tell me, if you can, how did I know this, and why am I here?"
It took them a while, but they finally got it. One said, "So it's
true?" I said, "Why didn't you know that? They said I took them to the
museum. Didn't they show you their pins? You could have called the
director who gave them, before falsely accusing them of lying. Why
didn't you, especially when they showed the improvement they had in
language, that gave some more validity to their claims? Isn't that
reasonable? In my opinion, any good teacher would have done that,
before abusing them. Yet you did what you have agreed is a very bad and
damaging thing to your students, completely unjustified. In light of
this, do you consider yourselves to be good teachers? Even to call
yourselves teachers?"
One immediately said, "I won't stand for this! I'm going back to my
classroom!" I said, "Please, a minute. If you can't admit to a problem,
it can't be corrected, and it's likely to happen again." Another one
said, "We have to apologize, and right away, and in front of our
classes. What they must have felt! All that joy of discovery and
knowledge, and we made them feel lower than dirt! You're right. I feel
really bad about this. I was blind stupid!" I said, "Actually, a blind
person would have heard the truth in their voices." The other said,
"Now that I think of it..." One nodded. The complainer said, "I don't
believe a word of this!" I said, "I did take them to the museum, and
Sharon gave them the pins. I also gave them some light cubes I made in
their favorite colors. And I gave them some help with language, in a
technique we use in Tibet. But before the trip, there were some
problems. Their mothers had some problems believing them about my
offer. I called them, and they gave permission. But Rashon's mother
didn't answer her phone. Her boyfriend, when she and her son told him,
beat them both to a pulp! I looked and saw what had happened when I
checked why she didn't answer her phone. I got some police and family
services people to come with me, and we rescued them, and the drug
dealing and armed robbery boyfriend is in jail. At the hospital, I
healed them. Actually, all in the hospital. Now you do THIS to him?
Hasn't he suffered enough?" Her mouth dropped open. Then she sat back
down hard, and cried. She mumbled, "I didn't know!" I said, "You did.
You just didn't care. All of you. You forgot that they are human beings
first, then sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and THEN
students. They are PEOPLE, with the same needs as all people have, just
as you are and have. Respect that, and show them that you do, and you
will EARN their respect, and they will behave better, and learn better,
and SO WILL YOU."
They looked at me with a lot of respect. I said, "Oh, and occasional
smiles wouldn't hurt. You know now what you should do. I know it won't
be easy. Egos won't enjoy that at all. Believe me, the kids know that
VERY well, and will respect you even more for it. As a possible added
incentive, I'll be watching." They nodded, in their tears. All had
some, even the principle. I said, "Now?" They looked to the principle,
and he nodded. They left. I said to him, "So, critique?" He said, "From
ME?" I said, "Sure, why not? I'm not perfect." He said, "You wouldn't
convince ME of that!" I just looked at him. He said, "You played them!
You held back the beating for the possible holdout. Brilliant!" I said,
"In any debate, like in poker or martial arts, it's usually a good idea
not to show more cards than you have to, to win. Two reasons. You can
then spring it on them in the right psychological moment if needed, and
they won't have time to think up a counter for it, if you ever need to
use it later." He said, "I knew something of that, but had not thought
to apply it to situations like this." I said, "Pattens of thinking are
very restrictive. They showed it their way, and you showed it here and
now. You can train yourself to go beyond your mental box, if you want
to. You know how to find information on that. Right. If an open mind
meant it had holes in it, I'd be really drained." He had to laugh. I
said, "I think you might be having some more er, discussions with those
three sometime. Could be interesting." He smiled and nodded. He said,
"One question. I see now you could have had us all fired, yet you
instead took the time and effort to make us better people and teachers.
Why?" I said, "Do you think you are worth so little that you didn't
deserve it? I fix situations, and teach where I can. Not punish." He
nodded. I said, "Farewell." I ported back to the Bureau.
Galya was with a client, so she said in contact, "You should share
that here, and in the psych department, for their improvement." I said,
"If you think so, you do it. Here's the crystal. Make sure they know
it's for Bureau use only." She said, "Will do." I told the secs I was
back. And I wasn't the only one. The man mountain I had literally
kicked out of my office, came in. I greeted him pleasantly, with his
name. He was very polite, and handed me his file. I looked at it, and
said, "Oh. Different position. Something that might interest you. Not
too long ago, I actually had an applicant who was a genuine little
creep." He said, "Sir, I apologize! I was stupid!" I said, "Accepted.
Chest hurt?" He said, "For a while, yes. But not as much as my pride."
I said, "I understand. That creep had the reverse issue. A computer
geek caught hacker criminal, feeling really low. He's now a very
respected member of the Bureau, in the cyber crimes department." He
said, "You helped him." I said, "Well, that's what he said. Let's get
on with your evaluation." It went well. I said then, "Why do you want
to work here?" He said, "High standards. Even the shrinks can fight!" I
said, "If you make it, you'll probably hear a little more about that."
He said, "You're the best fighter here?" I said, "Well, one applicant
wasn't sure we were good enough for him, a fourth degree black belt,
and a pistol expert. I offered to compete to prove it. He accepted." He
grinned and said, "He lost!" I said, "Oh, you saw?" He laughed. I said,
"You were waiting for me?" He said, "Yes. You know why." I said, "I'm
not unhappy to see a friend again." He said, "A friend?" I said, "Sure.
I said you could come back. I never did that before to somebody I
kicked out, or even officially disapproved. I knew you could improve
yourself. Tests show you have." He actually had a tear.
I went around my desk and offered to shake hands. He did. I looked a
little sideways at him, and he grinned and applied pressure. I equaled
it. He grinned wider, and stopped, and so did I. He said, "I knew it! I
knew you wouldn't do it unless you could beat me." I said, "Called risk
management." He laughed, and said, "I like you." I said, "Er, thanks.
Please take this with you back to Personnel. I look forward to seeing
you around. Er, oops!" He still had that amazed look when he walked in
to the Personnel office, and they grinned at him. He was even more
amazed. He said, "He told you?" The receptionist said, "Today, no.
Before, the whole Bureau knew about it. We just know from experience,
he improves people. Not even the main psych department head knows how
he does it, but he really does, where other people would just dump
them." He nodded, "I believe it. I'm approved?" She said, "I bet he
hinted that." He nodded dumbly. She said, "I'm not supposed to tell,
uniform.
A woman came into my office. I said, before she sat down, "You're in
pain. You should reschedule." She said, "But I really need this job!" I
said, "We have a lot of applicants, with few openings. Very few make it
all the way to be hired, and that takes time. If you really need a job
now, this isn't the place for it. But sit down and let's discuss your
problem." She did, and said, "But I don't have a problem." I said, "I'm
not a bad psychologist, you know. I'm the Department Head. But if you
We're separated, and there are no children, and not much money, but
he's making trouble." I said, "Let me guess. Male possessive ego
problems." She said with some heat, "He could be the poster boy for
that!" I said, "I know the type. Makes my knuckles itch." She looked at
me strangely, and chuckled. I said, "Wait! He hit you, didn't he?" She
said, "But he didn't mean it." I said, "Oh, he's a good actor. Got you
fooled, and with your own help. How often has he said he didn't mean
it?" She said, "It's not like that." I said, "Do you know how many
women have said that, before they were killed?" I said in the intercom,
"Please ask Galya to join me, priority." She came right in, and hugged
the applicant. I told her out loud what had happened. I said, "Galya is
a psychologist here, too. Professional consulting with us. Great with
hugs, too." She nodded.
I said, "You have to get away from him. Dead applicants don't work
well here." She looked odd. Then she said, "But he'll find me! He's a
police officer." I said, "Oh, that's interesting. I would bet you
aren't his only victim, and he uses his position to intimidate them
into silence. I see you agree it's likely. You know, we investigate
those kinds of things for our job applicants. Oh, you didn't know? The
Bureau investigates all the other agency people for security
clearances, including the military, so we would be sure to do that for
our own people, first. This is an active case now. Please excuse me
while I get it going." Her jaw dropped as I was leaving. I went to the
proper department, making files on the way. I said to the supervisor,
"New well qualified applicant. Battered wife, going through divorce.
Husband's a police officer. She's afraid he'll find her if she runs."
He said, "I know you. Give me all you've got. It has to be serious. I
remember the child kidnapping case. Time research, too?" I said, "Don't
I have ANY secrets around here?" He just grinned. I sighed, and gave it
to him. I said, "Safe house?" He said, "Right. Two hours. Hold her.
Tell her jokes if you have to. Actually, you always have to." I had to
laugh. So did he. I said, "You can't expose the time stuff, but he's
being watched now. He does anything, I'll pass it on. He will. He's
probably hard up now." He nodded. I said, "He's working. Got time for
her to clean out. Send agent?" He said, "Will do."
I went back to my office. I said to the applicant, "They're on it.
You're husbum is on the job now. There's time for you to get some
clothes and things before you go to the safe house. Two hours. An agent
will be here to help you with that, shortly. Actually, he's rather
tall." She kind of choked a little. Galya said, "Husbum?" I said, "Just
made it up. Probably other people did, too." They both nodded
agreement. Galya said to her, "I'm going with you." She said, "But he's
dangerous!" I said, "He makes a move, Galya just might let him live,
but he might not want to. Right. Even though we see people here off the
street, we don't have guards here. Don't need 'em. Some of us have been
attacked in our offices. Not one of us have ever been hurt." She said
with a smile, "Those poor attackers!" Galya said, "Absolutely!" They
hugged each other. The agent came in, and they left with him.
Her husband actually did attack a woman later that night, before
going home to an empty house. He was arrested at work the next day. A
lot of women came forward after it hit the news. His divorce lawyer
made him sign the papers right away, giving her everything, in exchange
for not testifying against him, not knowing about all his other
victims. I helped a little with that, making Galya grin her face almost
in half.
Then in a quiet time, she said to me, "I did it. With George. His
first time, too. Interesting, but a mistake. I can't decide if it feels
better or not, physically, but I'm sure it will emotionally." I said,
"But you had to find out for yourself. I understand. I wonder how he
felt, knowing you were thinking about me during that." She said, "The
same as I felt, knowing he was thinking about YOU." We had to laugh.
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Grant
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