The Mockery in the Science Lab and a Mother's Despair: How We Found Our 'Place' After That Day

I am writing down the path we took to reclaim ourselves after the despair we felt in the science lab that day. I hope this can become a light for someone else who is currently in the same darkness.

The science lab during an open class observation.
The experiment began, and the students all stood up from their seats at once.

“Those are the girls who are being mean.”

It was a classmate who was worried about my daughter who told me that beforehand.

Just as they said, two girls kept persistently watching my daughter and whispering, laughing loudly whenever my daughter was surprised by the experiment.
It was raw malice directed at her, without them realizing I was her parent.

I reported this fact to the homeroom teacher during a parent-teacher conference.
However, the response I received was surprisingly cold.

“Mother, did you hear exactly what they were saying?”

The ones doing the bullying were the 'good students' who did well in their studies.

Is even the malice a parent witnesses right in front of them dismissed as non-existent if there is no precise 'verbal evidence'?

The scene in that science lab was only a small fraction of the pain my daughter was enduring.

Rejected by the teacher, I felt a despair as if I had been cast into darkness.

Even when I went to the school counselor, they would listen, but no further solutions were found. Just when I didn't know what to do anymore, I was introduced to the city's educational consultation office.

“If there is somewhere else where I can be heard...”

I made that phone call with a mix of expectation and anxiety, clinging to a shred of hope. When the teacher there listened to my story, it was the first time I thought, 'Maybe there is hope here.'

That day I made an appointment and went there. 'If it's this teacher who truly listens to my words, surely...'

It was a prayer-like wish, bordering on desperation. The teacher simply listened intently to my story, even though I had been crushed by the school's response.

It was the moment I felt as if I had seen a single ray of light.

Through repeated dialogue, my daughter eventually found a 'place outside of school'.
I spent my days working while running around to support my daughter's place during the day.
That place was a precious time for us to reclaim ourselves.

After experiencing all of this, I am now preparing for a project to be completed in two years.

Just as the teacher at the consultation office gave me hope back then.
Now, I want to deliver a 'moment' that makes someone's heart feel a little lighter, together with my second daughter who is working on the illustrations.

Hoping that those words will become a small light for someone walking in the darkness.

▼ Click here for the 'Beginning Story' left behind by the White Rabbit