I want to say something harsh! I want to scream and shout and box his ears till they hurt! But I can't do that, they won't let me, the system and the crazy culture that we have erected around us, won't let me!

If I scream at him he will spit in my face, deride me till it hurts! Or he will run home and tell daddy, and then daddy will come to school with a red face and a dumpling-shaped wife with a harsh voice to egg him on! And daddy will threaten me and make me tremble and he will be in the right because the law says so!

I could maybe ignore the boy, make him look foolish in front of his peers or box him off with a piece of cardboard around his desk but I would still get into trouble. I will probably be suspended and eventually lose my job if I did anything like that! I want to scream and shout but I can't, but he screams and shouts all day and so nobody gets taught anything. I'm not a teacher, I'm an object that stands awkwardly at the front of the classroom looking foolish, whilst the kids do whatever they want.

I want to slap him so hard, to make him shut up and to sit down, I want to teach the other children, the ones who want to learn but are caught up in the boys "fun" and I want to do what teachers used to do, to control and shape and to use the authority that society once gave them. Now that has all been ripped away and I am not even allowed to raise my voice!

I want to isolate him, lecture him, punish him and maybe even to take out a leather belt. Never did me any harm! Might even do it as there is not much point my being here anyway!

Job satisfaction my ......I should have joined the navy!