Okay. I know that times have changed. I am well aware that back in the "good ol' days", kids fought their own battles and parents/teachers didn't get involved. Times were different. I got it. However, it surprises me to no end that Ms. Shields, who realizes that Flick has entered class late and with a black eye, doesn't say anything or hold him after class or whatever to find out what's going on. Even if he didn't have a black eye, I'm sure the teacher would have called out the student for being late. Perhaps she saw he was late because he was getting the crap kicked out of him and thought not to add insult to injury? Whatever. I don't understand how if a child swears, that mother calls the other boy's mother to tattle on them for it, but if one child wanders into class late with a black eye, that child's mother is not called to be warned that there was a scuffle or whathaveyou. If this was done off camera, I believe it would have been addressed through the bullies, making fun on the boys for having to get their mom's to take care of them, etc. Why is Flick the one always getting beaten up and why, oh why, does no one care?