I think it’s okay as long as he doesn’t mention the person by name. He doesn’t mention himself by name either, so no one would be able to track this woman down. If you read child-rearing books or self-help books, the experts always talk about clients/students/counselees whom they meet in a professional capacity. By sharing stories about these people, the experts can help others like you, me, and other teachers.

a) Richard never spoke to the media; it was all hearsay from Mayumi
b) Mayumi could never be compelled to testify against Richard since they are married

The lawyer said he thought he had a case but that they were pleading guilty only because they feared deportation for Mayumi. The judge said that there were no guarantees being made about deportation since that was a federal matter.

It seemed strange that Richard’s plea would affect Mayumi’s chance of deportation. I’m not a lawyer though.

Thanks for the commentary. Yes, sorry there’s no forum anymore. I suppose someone could set up a free yuku account or something…

You’re totally right. I think we do the same kind of stuff when we’re in positions of power. I alluded to the abusive stuff that we do in my post about single black women adopting.

I work for a non-profit organization that helps students go to college. Two days ago a senior girl walked into my office and asked if I would read her college admissions personal statement. She was Chinese, as am I, so we had an immediate connection and poked fun at ourselves a bit. Her personal statement, however, was gravely serious.

She explained that her mother married her stepfather (Taiwanese American) so they (mother and student) could immigrate to the United States. Shortly after arriving, the stepfather became emotionally unstable and highly abusive, verbally and physically. The student and her mother never said anything because they weren’t sure what to do in their new country, had no family or friends, and were afraid of deportation.

Despite putting up with this for SIX FUCKING YEARS, the student has a 3.93 GPA with a boatload of IB classes and has the highest SAT score at the entire school. And yes, she didn’t speak English until she was 11.

For those who don’t work in education, people who work with students and youth (maybe all adults technically, but I’m not sure) are legally obliged to report suspicions of abuse. Obviously I had much more than just suspicion. I spoke with her school counselor and we agreed that I would speak to her first, so she wouldn’t feel like she got blind sided, and then we would speak to her together.

The girl’s a champ. We met to discuss her personal statement and at the end I told her what my responsibilities were. She told me a little bit about what was going on at home and then we saw her counselor. The student said she still receives verbal abuse but threatens to call the cops if her stepdad ever touches her. She told us what her stepdad says to her, and then I asked her to tell me in Chinese what he says to her, and she did. Just some downright awful shit that no parent should ever tell a child.

Her counselor filed a report with CPS and we’re going to monitor her. But frankly, if she’s come this far without any help, I doubt she needs anything we can provide now.

Just thought we should remember that, as much as we talk about people from “outside”our group treating us badly, we don’t always treat ourselves very well either.