Mayor Learns Son Threatens to Have His Teacher Fired, Rushes to School Immediately – Story of the Day

Mayor Edward rushes to his son's school after receiving a mysterious email that his son has threatened teachers. When he gets there, however, Edward discovers that the situation is far more complicated than he thought.

Mayor Edward stared at the email he'd received in disbelief. His son, Daniel, could not be guilty of the actions described in the email.

"My son wouldn't threaten his teachers." Edward closed the email with a shake of his head. "This must be a prank."

But the email haunted the mayor's thoughts as he tried to continue his work. Daniel had been subdued lately, and his marks weren't up to his usual standard. Maybe something was going on at school that Edward needed to look into.

"Miss Sommers? I need you to cancel my ten o' clock appointment," Edward said to his assistant as he rushed from his office.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Miss Sommers asked.

"I don't know," Mayor Edward replied, "but I'm going to find out."

Mayor Edward pulled up to Daniel's school and went straight to the Principal's office.

"I must speak with Principal Johnson immediately," Edward announced.

A few minutes later, Edward sat across from Principal Johnson.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your day, but I must know the truth." Edward stood behind one of the chairs, gripping the edges of its backrest nervously.

"I received a strange email this morning from an anonymous sender. The email says that Daniel has been threatening to have his teachers fired. And that he makes the teachers cry! What is going on? If this is a false accusation, you're in a lot of—"

Principal Johnson leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. "That is very unfortunate. I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Mayor Edward."

"So it's true?" Edward gaped at the Principal. "But it can't be! Daniel is a good student and a good son."

Principal Johnson frowned. "Yes, he was, but we've seen drastic changes in Daniel's attitude lately."

"Daniel has threatened to have several teachers fired, Mayor Edward. We know he can't actually do that, so I've been investigating the situation to try to understand what's caused this sudden change in behavior." Principal Johnson folded his hands together on his desk. "It seems like Daniel might be acting out because he's being bullied."

"What?" Edward sprang from his seat. "But why would anyone bully Daniel? Who is responsible for this?"

"I'm sorry, but I really can't disclose that information right now," Principal Johnson replied. "I realize how frustrating that must be, but I must protect my students."

"What about Daniel? Who's going to protect him if you're shielding the students who are hurting him?"

"I am, of course!" Principal Johnson stood. "Please, let me do my job, Mayor Edward. There is a protocol I must follow, and until I get to the bottom of this, there's nothing more you can do."

Mayor Edward left the Principal's office with a feeling of numb disbelief hanging over him. It seemed like everything he thought he knew about his son's school life had been turned on its head.

What sort of a father was he that this could happen beneath his nose without him realizing it? What sort of a mayor was he if the kids in town couldn't even go to school safely?

"Watch where you're going!"

Edward looked up just in time to avoid bumping into a heavily pregnant woman entering the office.

"I'm so sorry, my mind was somewhere else," Edward said.

"I'll bet." The woman gave Edward a scathing look. "I suppose you think you're too important to mind the people around you. No wonder your son is such a menace after being raised by a man like you."

Edward stared at the woman in shock. When he recovered from her harsh words, she had disappeared into the Principal's office.

"Who was that?" Edward asked the school secretary.

"That was Mrs. Thompson, she teaches Science."

Mayor Edward had a sinking feeling in his gut. Mrs. Thompson must be one of the teachers that Daniel had threatened! He needed to speak to her.

Edward waited outside the school office for Mrs. Thompson to reappear. Nearly half an hour later, she strode from the office and hurried down the hallway.

"Mrs. Thompson, wait please!" Edward followed her. "I need to speak to you."

Mrs. Thompson glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Edward, but she didn't stop to speak to him. She put a hand on her belly and lengthened her stride, weaving through the students that flooded the hallway when the bell rang before disappearing around a corner.

Edward caught up to Mrs. Thompson just outside one of the classrooms.

"Please, Mrs. Thompson, I must speak with you!" Edward placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"I have a class to teach, Mr. Mayor, and nothing else to say to you," she replied.

"I think you do. My son, Daniel, threatened you, didn't he?"

Mrs. Thompson narrowed her eyes angrily, but her lower lip quivered. She placed both hands on her swollen belly as though to defend the infant inside from him.

"Please, tell me what he said, Mrs. Thompson. I want to get to the bottom of this situation And since the Principal won't tell me all the information I need to know, you're the only one who can help me."

Mrs. Thompson sniffled and glanced into the classroom. "I already told you everything in the email I sent you. All I can do now is let you see it for yourself."

Mrs. Thompson led Edward to a doorway adjacent to the classroom and showed him in. It was filled with spare lab equipment and had a door that opened into the classroom.

"Wait in here," Mrs. Thompson said. "Daniel is supposed to arrive in a few minutes to hand in an assignment. I'll leave the adjoining door open so you can hear how he speaks to the teachers."

Edward agreed. It felt like he spent a long time waiting in the darkened storage room, but eventually, he heard footsteps enter the classroom next door.

"Daniel, you were supposed to be here ten minutes ago," Mrs. Thompson's voice carried through the door. "Have you—"

"Didn't I tell you to stop being such a nag?" Daniel snapped. "Here's your stupid assignment."

Edward stood there in shock. That was Daniel's voice, but he'd never imagined his son could speak to anyone in such a disrespectful tone. Edward peeped through the door just in time to see Mrs. Thompson flinch as Daniel threw a few pages at her.

"That is not acceptable behavior!" Mrs. Thompson said. "I'm going to have to give you detention if this continues, Daniel."

"No, you won't." Daniel leaned on Mrs. Thompson's desk and glared at her.

"Don't you want to keep your job, Mrs. Thompson? Maybe you think I'm joking about getting you fired, or maybe you think I was lying when I told you I know where you live."

Dear God! Edward had heard more than enough. He burst through the door connecting the store room to the classroom and pointed at his son.

"You are coming with me, right now," Edward said.

"Dad?" Daniel stared at him in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting to the bottom of this mess," Edward took his son by the arm and led him outside.

"Why didn't you tell me you were being bullied at school?" Edward glanced at his son as he drove.

Daniel shrugged.

"Talk to me, Daniel, please!" Edward pleaded. "I want to help you."

"How?" Daniel snapped. "What do you think you can do about it, Dad?"

"Whatever I need to do," Edward replied. "I'll make sure the school enforces a stricter anti-bullying policy."

"Yeah, right. Like the school can do anything about what happens online." Daniel scoffed and turned away to stare out the window.

"Online? Are you being bullied on the internet?"

"What did you think? That I was getting beaten up or something?" Daniel shook his head. "This isn't the Stone Age, Dad."

Edward pulled the car over to the side of the road. He parked and turned to look at his son.

"Daniel, I want you to tell me exactly what's been happening, when it started, and anything else I might need to know."

Daniel sighed. At first, it seemed like he wouldn't speak, but slowly the story came out. Edward listened quietly as Daniel explained that it had started with a classmate posting mean comments on Daniel's social media pages about Daniel being a spoiled geek.

"They said I think I'm better than everyone because you buy me things I want. I blocked them and thought that would be the end of it," Daniel said, "but I was wrong."

Edward's horror grew as he listened to Daniel explain how several classmates had ganged up against him and started posting content mocking Daniel's interests in drama, science, and anime. Although Daniel had reported them to the sites, nothing happened.

"Every time I block one of them, two new accounts appear." Daniel sniffed and wiped a tear that was sliding down his cheek. "I eventually deleted my social media accounts, but that only made things worse at school."

Daniel hung his head. "They started bugging my friends and saying they only hung out with me because you paid them to until everyone stopped speaking to me. I reported it to the Principal, and he promised to investigate, but he hasn't done jack!"

"I thought if I was mean to the teachers, then it might force him to act," Daniel continued. He sniffed and wiped at his eyes. "But it didn't help. Nothing helped! I blamed them all for doing nothing. I thought I'd feel better by punishing them, but it only made me feel worse. I hate what I've become!"

Edward leaned over to hug his son. He felt powerless and overwhelmed by everything Daniel had told him. Although he knew social media had its trolls, he'd never imagined kids these days were using it to bully each other so viciously.

"We're going to figure this out, Daniel, I promise." Edward leaned back and started the car. "But first, we're going to report this to the police."

Edward and Daniel went to the police station and filed a report. Within a week, the police tracked down the kids responsible for bullying Daniel. Edward arranged a meeting between the kids' parents, Principal Johnson, and the police detective in charge of the case.

"I was shocked when I found out that my son was behaving rudely and aggressively toward the teachers at his school," Edward said to the group gathered in a conference room at the town hall. "As if that wasn't bad enough, I then found out that my son had been bullied for months."

"My first instinct was to try to get justice by having the police arrest and prosecute the culprits." Edward scanned the faces of the other parents in the room. "But then I realized something important. Just as my son acted out by threatening his teachers, these bullies must be acting out too to cope with a painful situation in their lives."

"In such a case, there won't be any justice in prosecuting these kids. Instead, we need to go to the root of the problem and heal the hurt that is causing all our children to lash out at others."

Edward gestured to Principal Johnson.

"At Mayor Edward's suggestion, the school is going to implement a series of compulsory therapy sessions for all the students involved in this particular incident. We will also be working with the police to implement procedures to follow in the future if this sort of thing happens again," Principal Johnson said.

"However, I will also be taking steps to prevent future incidents of bullying," Mayor Edward said. "I will be working with my advisors to create an anti-bullying campaign, which will be implemented in every school in this town.

What can we learn from this story?

• Bullying has serious consequences. Bullying should never be taken lightly as it can lead to serious mental health and behavioral issues in the victims, and also because it can indicate the same problems in the perpetrators.
• Be alert to any sudden changes in a child's behavior. Any sudden and inexplicable behavioral changes in children are usually a symptom of a bigger problem that must be addressed.

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