Faculty Meeting (Friday after classes)

[bigdamnprincipal]

With the semester in full swing, Zoe thought there might be a need for the teachers and administration to talk to each other. Or maybe it was just Friday and Fridays deserved to be celebrated. Either way, a handwavy message had gone out to the staff to meet in the student council room for an informal faculty meeting. Zoe had set up coffee, cold drinks, donuts, and pastries; there was nothing alcoholic yet, but it was still early in the semester.

"Good afternoon," she said once it looked like everyone was there. "I wanted to give everyone a chance to get together now that we're past the introduction phase with the students. Feel free to take some food and talk to each other about whatever you need to." Whether they talked about students or things that actually interested them was up to them.

[Hey, look what RTM reminded me to do this week! Open to all staff and OCD free.]

Comments

[raspberryturk]

Pfff, Reno had been sneaking booze into non-alcoholic school functions long before your time, Jayne. Today was no exception. Hell, he wasn't even being subtle about pouring the alcohol from his flask into his coffee mug.

Hey, the notice had said it was informal. The suit he was wearing probably balanced it out neatly, anyway.

"So, is there some kind of school rule about makin' students cry in class? Because I'm predictin' a lot of that this semester."

[notasalad.livejournal.com]

"We can make them cry?" Jayne said perking up. "How you making them cry? Because I got all sorts of notes how we're not supposed to punch or shoot at 'em."

[raspberryturk]

"I haven't done any punching or shooting," Reno sniffed, gesturing with his coffee mug. "Some of 'em are just sensitive, is all. I'm tryin' to get the cryin' out of their system before they see shit that's really gonna break their hearts, yo."

See, Reno had the capacity to be sensitive if you squinted.

[notasalad.livejournal.com]

Jayne frowned at that. "That sounds like sensitive girly stuff that's.no reason to cry if you ask me."

[raspberryturk]

"I didn't," Reno replied, shooting Jayne a grin. "But if you think lookin' over the ruins of a burned-out city where millions of people died overnight a few years ago is sensitive girly shit, then damn, congrats, you must be made of friggin' stone."

[notasalad.livejournal.com]

"Sounds creepy and mortifying but nothing to cry about," Jayne said with a shrug. "They leave any loot behind?"

[throughaphase]

"That might depend on why they're crying..." Kitty said.

[raspberryturk]

"Rule of thumb is no outright mocking, but tellin' shit like it is without the candy coating is fine, yeah?" Reno paused for a moment, and then added, "For reference, the weekly field trips are going to involve visitin' and workin' in the fresh ruins of a recently collapsed civilization, yo."

So... there would probably be more crying outside of the Danger Shop sims.

[throughaphase]

"Eek," Kitty frowned. "I'd say that's an acceptable kind of crying. I'd cry."

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, I figured," Reno agreed. "I had one student the other week who looked like she really friggin' needed to, even took her aside and told her it was okay if that's how hard it was hittin' her, and then spent the next ten minutes telling her that crying wasn't useless and self-indulgent. People do it for a reason, right?"

He wrinkled his nose a little.

"I just don't have a friggin' clue what else I should be doin' about it. Try to shelter them from the worst of it? Let 'em turn on the waterworks and leave 'em be, or... fuck, I dunno. I'm not the feelings guy, here. I'm the 'hit it with a stick until it stops tryin' to kill me' guy."

[throughaphase]

"I figure people are going to be upset. Don't shelter them, but make sure they know they're allowed to be upset and it's normal," Kitty said. "And if you're any good at hugs, that might help, too."

[sith_happened]

"I've done it," Anakin, Dean of Students, said. "It doesn't kill 'em."

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah," Reno snorted, "I've been in your classes before, yo."

Try to make Anakin feel old, Reno. Go on, do that some more.

"The students are tough around here, anyway. I'm just tryin' to figure out the line. How much 'shitty real life lessons' are too much for some of these kids."

[sith_happened]

"Well, some of them seem to come with lands made of cotton candy where they ride unicorns as rainbows shoot from their asses, so they need to realize most of the multiverse isn't that kind."

Thank you, Anakin. Very sympathetic.

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah? 'Cause not all of 'em are going to go back to the multiverse when they're done here," Reno noted, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "Don't get me wrong, boss- I'm all for educatin' the sheltered ones. Hell, I enjoy pickin' on the rookies from time to time. But rubbin' their faces in it is just gonna distract from gettin' shit done in class, too, yo."

And it meant that Reno was going to have to deal with emotions and he was so not equipped for that.

[sith_happened]

Anakin shrugged. "As long as we don't use the Emo Room again, I think we're okay."

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

After hearing some of the other conversations, Hannibal nodded. "Ms Pryde is right. Let them understand it's acceptable, possibly even expected. Make certain they know they can come to you for help - or to someone else, if you're not comfortable with that," he added with a chuckle. "Then give them the room to deal with it."

[raspberryturk]

"Simple as that?" Reno considered Hannibal's advice for a moment, and then nodded a little, himself. "I care about these kids, yo. Want 'em to come out of this with a sense of accomplishment, not shaken and loathing the universe for how shitty it can be to people. I actually came up with this whole 'crying is healthy, copin' with how we feel is a first step to getting shit done' thing for one of my students on the first day of class, but goddamn, I feel like one hell of a hypocrite passin' out advice like that. Healthy emotional responses aren't exactly my strong point, yo."

Rikku would probably back him up on that one.

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"So you know how not to respond," Hannibal pointed out with a grin. "And what to watch for if they're taking it poorly themselves."

He thought for a moment. "With children of this age, often the best thing to do is to let them come to conclusions on their own, with proper guidance. So long as you give them the chance to discuss and process what they've experienced, and explain what you can, there isn't much else you can do."

[raspberryturk]

Reno gave a nod. It seemed like sound advice. He already had a body count in the millions around the time he was the age of the students in question, so he knew he could really use whatever input anyone had to offer.

"There's one kid I'm worried about for another reason, beyond just what they're gonna see in class," he added, a bit hesitantly. He had no idea if this sort of thing was his place to share or not. "Sounded to me like she'd been read the riot act for cryin' while growin' up, yo. She's like, shit, can't be older than seventeen, and she was actin', at least so far as I could tell, less like she was ashamed to want to cry, and more like she was afraid to."

For as crap as he was at healthy coping methods, Reno was also a Turk. Being observant was sort of what he did.

"That's probably not even all that unusual around here, but it gets my hackles up, yo. I hate gettin' that feeling like there's shit I can do after somebody's fucked with one of my Rookies." A beat. "Students."

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Whereas Hannibal's body count was slightly less impressive, both then and now.

He grimaced. "Not unusual, no. All you can do to counteract that is to provide understanding and a good example and hope that they learn from it. Repression helps nobody."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"Is it therapeutic crying? Because I feel like a lot of the students could use some of that," Zoe said.

[raspberryturk]

"Yeah, I guess it might be," Reno mused, shrugging. "Gods know you're right about that much, yo. It's interesting tryn' to pick out which students are reacting to what they're seeing, and which ones are reacting to where they've been, but in the end, shit, at least they're gettin' it out of their systems."

[bigdamnprincipal]

"I think it's good for them, as long as they're being supported," Zoe said, "and not mocked. Not that I imagine you doing that, just for the record."

[raspberryturk]

"I only mock dumbasses who have it coming, and my ferret," Reno promised with a chuckle. "Not sure I'm the most supportive teacher to have around, though. I'm not really the hug-it-out guy, here."

Not many of the teachers here really were.

"I got no patience for mocking the sensitive ones in my classroom either, yo. We're gonna see some rough shit in my class, if anyone starts pickin' on people for havin' feelings, they'll be spending the rest of the semester sittin' in the classroom writing notes while the rest of us get shit done."