Unruly Student Caught in Private Moment

I started off teaching when I was in my twenties, I was 25 years old when I finished my student teaching and got my first class of eighth graders to deal with. I was teaching eighth grade at a public school in an urban area and unfortunately being a disciplinarian was by no means my strong suit. I loved teaching but I never felt fully capable of keeping a class under control especially a class that was rowdy to begin with. Some days were so bad I considered that perhaps teaching was not my calling. I had a friend who was teaching at a private school and she made it sound so great, so I looked for employment at a private school as well.

I got hired at a private school fairly quickly, within a few weeks of beginning my search and I was all too happy to leave the problems of the public school system behind. I had used my previously scheduled vacation time to interview at various academies and private schools. That's how ready I was to leave. I got offered the position and gave my employer a one week notice, yes a one week notice that was on a Monday and by the next Monday I was working at a private school. I had to wake up a half hour earlier and I gave up a little money but I was happy.

My new students were so different from what I had left in the public school system I thought they could do no wrong but after my first two weeks the principal tells me that I was getting a new student that had came to the school before but was now returning and I needed to be 'ready' for him. Not only the principal but the whole staff would tell me that this kid was a handful. When I met 'Frankie' I couldn't believe all the stories people were telling me about him because he seemed very reserved.

He was tall, definitely not the tallest but tall enough and he had brown hair sort of a messy mop top, cute smile full of braces he just looked like a typical gawky young teenage kid and I refused to believe that he was this monster I had been warned about. However after a week or so Frankie began showing his true colors and the thing about him was that he was not just disruptive but that he could get the whole class to be disruptive with him despite my threats of punishment. If he wasn't there for some reason the class would be great but when he came back it seemed like everybody just followed his lead.

The school had this small so-called private restroom that was anything but private, you could only get in if you had a key but the problem was that every staff member had a key and wanted to use this restroom and there was no sign on the door to say occupied or unoccupied. People often got walked in on whilst using the restroom. Certain teachers also gave some of their students' permission to use that restroom particularly if it was later in the day.

One day I was really trying to think of a way I could handle Frankie by myself before getting the administration involved. It was getting late I had taught all my classes for the day and I got my key out to go in the restroom. When I opened it I couldn't believe what I saw. Frankie had his pants lowered and was standing in front of the mirror with one hand on his penis and the other holding a paper towel in front of it, he was masturbating. I looked down then I looked up at his face and he was like a deer in headlights, he just froze. I apologized and closed the door. This may sound like it took a long time to take place but in reality it couldn't have lasted more than 2 to 3 seconds, I wouldn't have stood there for a minute staring at him and I doubt he would have stayed in his sudden deer-like trance for that long.

I didn't know before then that eighth grade boys were that far along in puberty because Frankie was probably 13, no older than 14 years old and my boyfriend at the time was 29 and from the quick look I got at his genitalia he seemed to be somewhat close to my boyfriend in physical maturity. I only took note because I would have expected to see much less development in that area.

The next day in class Frankie did not say a word, he didn't try to make anyone laugh, he didn't get up out of his seat, he didn't talk back, he didn't make weird noises, he didn't throw spit wads, nothing. Other teachers eventually noticed and asked me what I had done but really I had done nothing.

I thought about reassuring Frankie that I wouldn't tell anyone about what I caught him doing and that I did not think it was strange but a normal part of growing up but then I thought about it and I didn't want to risk getting the old Frankie back. The rest of the year until he graduated Frankie behaved in my classroom and in any place I happened to be on Campus.