Reply to New teacher over sharing (death of newborn)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Last night was my 7th grader’s BTS night. Each teacher on the team started with a brief personal introduction (education, family, favorite activity, etc.) with a photo collage on their presentation. Most had pictures of their spouse, kids, activities, college banner, etc.  A new teacher to the school had a photo of a newborn in a hospital with oxygen, IV, etc. as the most prominent photo of the collage, and she said her daughter passed away a few years ago but is very important to her, and the students have been very supportive.
I can only imagine the pain of losing a newborn. However, I do not think it should be discussed with students. It is not a recent death, nor did the students know her when she was pregnant. That said, kids often ask teachers “do you have kids”, and it must be a painful topic to answer. It’s possible she brought this up with students as a way to get this topic over with. But the way she said that her daughter is very important to her and the students are supportive was awkward, as if she is still processing the grief and the pain is still raw.  And who would turn to brand new class for “support”?
I know there is no normal “timeline” and losing a child isn’t something you just “get over”. However, it has been several years and it seemed very odd and somewhat disturbing.
Thoughts? Would you say anything to the administration about it? [b]Or am I a jerk for thinking this was inappropriate?[/b]
 [/quote]

What on earth would you "say to the administration" - [i]tell Ms. Jackson nobody wants to hear about her dead baby! [/i]??

Yes, you're a jerk. [b] It's not inappropriate, it's just sad. [/b] It made you uncomfortable because you were sad and didn't expect to experience any negative emotions.  But unless you think it was an art project designed to jerk at your emotions, you can't call someone inappropriate for having had a terrible thing happen to them.[/quote]
+1
And you're assuming that she is leaning on her students for support, as opposed to, "the kids are really nice about it and say nice, supportive things."

And a giant FU for thinking you have any idea of the appropriate timeline for grieving a lost child.  [/quote]

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