The first experiences leading up to a child’s teen years are what predict how one may act in the future. In the short stories, “A Teachers Reward” by Robert Phillips and “Long Long After School” by Ernest Buckler, children suffer through Emotional abuse, discrimination and trauma throughout their school life, which prompts a series of reoccurring events. “A Teachers Reward” is a short story based on a retired teacher named Ms. Scofield and her forgotten student, Raybe. After answering the door to an unfamiliar Raybe Simpson she invites him in for a chat and some tea. Ms Trethway is shocked to hear that he is unemployed and parentless. After a long chat and life update, the two get in a fight when past incidents are brought up. Both accusing one another, Raybe yells which concludes to him bringing out a hammer and grabbing her knuckles. “Long Long After School” shares a story of a deceased 3rd grade teacher called Miss Trethway and a mourning boy, names Wes. Many years after Miss Trethway passed, working in the graveyard, Wes tells his bullying story with the narrator whom was one of the bullies. Wes begins to flashback to a time where his is racially profiled and mentally abused by his classmates during his childhood, and has no one to turn to except for his beloved 3rd grade teacher, Miss Trethway. When children are mean, she is the only one to care for Wes, and except him for who he is.

First, victims of emotional abuse suffer through what is a typical kids horror story of school, but in these stories an everyday kids worst nightmare is Raybe and Wes’ reality. Ms Scofield sees Raybe to be poor, trouble and nothing more. As Raybe sits telling Ms Scofield the stories he exclaims she “once called [Raybe] Baby-Raybe, and it caught on. That [is] all the kids called [him] after that” (Phillips, 381). Raybe is unable to fight back at the time because he will just get punished once again. As he grows up, these thoughts come back to haunt him, coercing him to act out as a coping mechanism. He feels he wants to give payback to Ms Scofield so he puts a hammer to her knuckles. In “Long Long After School”, Wes is seen as an outsider, one that does not really fit in with the other towns people and never has. When being tormented “Wes’s privacy seem[s] to be everyone’s property”(Buckler, 48) according to the kids. The narrorator does not even remember “how the kids… tease [Wes] at school”(Buckler, 52), lacking empathy for Wes and his feelings. Wes shares this story with the narrator who is one of the children ruining Wes’ life, terrorizing him. The harsh comments that are made about him leads Wes to become lonely and finally share his story, not with someone who cares, but an acquaintance colleague of his.

When a loud opinion comes around, the fine line between a sterotype and what is actually in front of them gets blurred. When Ms Scofield turns her back a student writes inappropriate words on the black board and before even considering who it could be she immediately turned to Raybe for the blame. Raybe gets brutally punished because of this and gets his knuckles wrapped in front of the class. While the class laughs Raybe is not, but Ms Scofield defends her actions saying “it does [not] seem to [be] do[ing] any harm”(Phillips, 384), explaining that “a little discipline never hurt anybody”(Phillips, 385), but Raybe says otherwise. Raybe’s status as a poor kid makes Ms Scofield assume he is a trouble maker, and he is punished for many acts he does not commit. Ms Scofield never suspects the wealthy kids because she correlates being well-off with being well-behaved. Raybe is constantly punished for acts he does not commit and for this reason hits Ms Scofield to get revenge. Wes is tyrannized for the colour of his skin rather than being seen as a real person with feelings. He does not fit in with the others and for this reason the children say “his hands are dirty”(Buckler, 50) and make fun of him saying “Wes is blushing”(Buckler, 51). By saying these things the kids are pointing out that Wes is African American and is different than the others. This makes him upset and starts to grow angry over time. He now has a low lying job, one where he does not see many people, and does not get name called and antagonized. He lives in sadness and fear because of these children who had to start rumours that are simply just racist. Both children live different lives then the kids in their classes making discrimination more apparent

Trauma can be the cause of a downward spiral, especially at a young age. After his parents died, Raybe was left with his aunt, poor and abandoned. Having this traumatic experience right from the get go already makes school a more difficult experience. Raybe never told his teachers about this traumatic event as he is in grade 3 and just trying to survive the frightening teachers. As any kid who loses their parents, Raybe is struggling in his classes, but Ms Scofield just sees this as him having “no motivation [and] no follow-through” (Phillips, 385). Being continuously punished while already coping with such a great loss cannot be a recipe for success. From this he deals with a down spiral of events occurring in friend groups and getting into prison eventually. After mentioning to the narrator how beautiful Miss Tretheway was, the narrator thinks that his thought is “plainly ridiculous… Obviously she had [not] ever been beautiful” (Buckler, ). Wes respected Miss Trethway and is likely the only student to admire the good in her. This proves the blindness the other people had, and the despair Wes was feeling after loosing his favourite person. No one would ever understand the love he felt for his Trethway and the pain when she passed. He grows sad and lonely, still mourning at her grave, even the many years after she passed. He still does not forget about Miss Trethway and what she does for Wes, which explains his regular presence and care he shows for his workplace at the graveyard. Trauma caused Raybe and Wes to suffer through their childhood as the other children were unaware.

In the short stories, “A Teachers Reward” and “Long Long After School” by Ernest Buckler Robert Phillips and Ernest Buckler write the impact discrimination makes on a persons life after going through emotional abuse, discrimination, and trauma at a young age. Stuck in Jail, Raybe thinks about the life he has and realizes the years of abuse and being ridicule is to blame for where he is. Feeling upset and cheated on by his classmates and teachers, he waits until he can finally get his revenge. After being called names and being picked on for many years, Wes grows up as an outcast, forgotten and hidden from his town. He is depressed and grieving still as he gets older. He never finds happiness and is always in a dark state of death and sorrow. Both characters develop mournful and bitter as they think about what could have been done in the past to change the present.