School challenges and culture clashes

I've lived here seventeen years, but some situations still make me feel like I just stepped off the plane.

Commenter Regular Anonymous asked me to post about dealing with difficult school personnel. I am not the person to ask, because I have problems dealing even with non-difficult school personnel. It's a combination of the language (even though I have fluent Hebrew), the culture, and the fact that I am a nice, quiet American. I can overcome the feeling of intimidation in short bursts, but then I retreat. This causes me no end of difficulty, and not just with schools.

I have a friend whose son's teacher was picking on him. They couldn't accuse the teacher because that would make the situation worse. So they asked an Israeli what to do (you've noticed that native Israelis are experts at getting things to happen in schools). He told them to tell the teacher the following: "We are concerned about our son. He is convinced that you are picking on him, but we are sure that can't possibly be true." It worked like a charm.

If you don't have anyone to advise you, or the problem is complex, consider hiring someone to serve as your advocate and mediate between you and the school. There are social workers and psychologists who will work with the school to solve a child's problem. Sometimes switching schools is the best solution, especially in a private school that may not have interest in, or resources for, expending extra effort.