mrt2
Brown Belt
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2018
- Messages
- 408
- Reaction score
- 232
Happened last night at the high belt testing at my TKD school. Brown belts, purple belts and green belts were testing, including quite a few children. I don't know if it was summer vacation or what, but it wasn't an especially strong group. After the test, instead of the usual belt ceremony and group picture, the head instructor thanked everybody for participating, and said those who passed would be awarded their new belts in class, and he would individually inform a small number of students who failed, and would be given an opportunity to re test the end of next week.
One Dad got right up in my teacher's face, accusing him of favoritism, or politics, or something. When my teacher tried to tell him why the boy failed (a number of things, but the most significant was, the boy forgot his yellow belt form, which isn't acceptable for a brown belt under any circumstances). But the Dad and the boy both started yelling at the teacher (I guess the boy forgot all that TKD stuff like Respect, Courtesy, Perseverance, and Self control, as well as a children's rule never to interrupt an adult conversation), and the whole thing ended with the Dad saying he was pulling his boy out of class and expected a refund for any advance fees paid.
My take is, man, these stage parents need to get a grip. It isn't fun to see your kid fail, but despite what some think, a belt promotion isn't a participation trophy. It is actually a good thing if your instructor doesn't promote everybody who shows up. That shows that if you do get promoted, it actually means something.
One Dad got right up in my teacher's face, accusing him of favoritism, or politics, or something. When my teacher tried to tell him why the boy failed (a number of things, but the most significant was, the boy forgot his yellow belt form, which isn't acceptable for a brown belt under any circumstances). But the Dad and the boy both started yelling at the teacher (I guess the boy forgot all that TKD stuff like Respect, Courtesy, Perseverance, and Self control, as well as a children's rule never to interrupt an adult conversation), and the whole thing ended with the Dad saying he was pulling his boy out of class and expected a refund for any advance fees paid.
My take is, man, these stage parents need to get a grip. It isn't fun to see your kid fail, but despite what some think, a belt promotion isn't a participation trophy. It is actually a good thing if your instructor doesn't promote everybody who shows up. That shows that if you do get promoted, it actually means something.