And the call woke me up so I was kinda out of it but, For those who don't know, I work at the SACC program (afterschool care) at the local elementary school. My Supervisor (who is actually really awesome, she was just relaying the message to me) said that, on Friday, as we were doing a craft, I said 'inappropriate things' in front of the children, consisting of; "That's stupid." "I don't understand." "It's whatever." 'It's whatever', for those who don't know, is slang in this area for 'That's cool', 'that's okay', 'It's fine", etc. Therefore, I honestly see no problem with any of these statements except the first one. Problem is, I don't remember saying any of this, but apparently some parent (who seems like some sort of tattletale, to call over something so dumb) called in and reported it. Supervisor called one of my co-workers, who was in the same area at the time, and I guess she just went with it or something. Now, I know I have a notoriously bad memory, so I guess it's entirely possible to have said those things, but something strikes me as odd. I generally do not employ the use of the word 'stupid' in my daily vocabulary. It's just not a word I would say, especially not when I know the kids were around. So I can't help but wonder if someone misheard me or is lying altogether. I'm not in trouble or anything (I think my Supervisor thinks it's kind of a dumb call too, but she had to call because a parent complained), but I am immensely curious. Thoughts?
Well if you don't think you said it then speak up. Although, sometimes we may say things that don't seem in our vocabulary but, if that happens to me, then I consciously note it so I'm sure you would remember.
It sounds to me like you're not in trouble necessarily, but that your supervisor is just relaying the complaint from the parent. At the end of the day, it might just be easier to say "I can't remember if I did or didn't say those things, but I'll try to watch what I say around the kids from now on," and do just that. Once at my job a customer cut the entire line for the candy stand, proclaiming that he was "here before" and didn't need to wait. It was quite busy and people would, understandably, be upset if he was allowed to cut the line. My coworker politely told him that he had to wait his turn. When he refused to get into the line, and crowded her counter, she helped him just so he would go away. He complained to the manager on duty (who had watched the entire thing unfold), and the manager took my coworker aside and told her about the complaint. He knew she wasn't guilty (and if she was cold to the customer, it was pretty called for), but did it really just to appease the customer. It sounds to me like it's a similar situation here--the parent will feel as though their complaint was listened to, and if you just take it with a smile, there's really no harm.
I've learned from my mom having taught since before I was born that when it comes to education you have to ignore the parents to a certain degree. I know you're not a teacher, but it's still applies. Last year my mom got a job at a new school and she has said that it was the single worst year out of 20+ years of teaching, and the parents were the sole reason. The school she got a job at is a very small, but very rich, private school. I mean, it's crazy how rich they are. One kid flew to Paris and back for spring break. Anyway, the point is that because of this the parents feel even more entitled than usual, so by the end of the year my mom had to almost ignore them entirely in order to maintain sanity. What I'm saying is, don't sweat it. Seriously. Parents will always be terrible for the people in that area of work.
