Making Fun of Kids is Funny

I am ‘quite funny.’ Just in case you didn’t know. This review came from—of all places—a sixth grade teacher. And the source of her review? I wrote a campaign speech for a little boy I know running for 6^th Grade Rep at his school. The speech itself was not amusing: it was very serious, very empowered, very 6^th-grade-we-want-a-longer-lunch. But I prefaced the speech (in my note to his mother) by trash-talking Oba’s competition (“Rich Little Gossipy Girls” MAY have been my specific wording). The mother forwarded my email to her son’s account so they could talk about his speech later that night. Oba, in haste, forwarded the entire thread to his teacher so she could approve the speech and he could use it. The email still included, unfortunately, my defamation of his peers. However, rather than getting offended, she found my synopsis of the competition ‘quite funny.’ Thank heavens our educators think insulting children is amusing. Because I certainly do.