When I was 8 years old, the most strange memory of my school days happened. I used to be a girl who behaved like a witch. Nobody was able to say bad things about me that I hadn’t done. I would defend myself uncontrollably without concern for individual differences, like the time I had with my teacher.
One day, when I was in secondary class, our teacher, Öhret Ünlü, left the room. While leaving, she told our class representative, “Write the names of people on the board who talk while I am away. When I come back, I will beat them with a ruler.” Then she left. After she was gone, our class representative began to behave as if he were the teacher and started writing down names. During this silly process, I asked my friend Ayşenur for my eraser that had fallen under the desk. I didn’t speak, just pointed to it. However, our class representative wrote down my name and my friend’s name on the board. I objected to him, but he didn’t listen.
Then our teacher returned. She called out the students whose names were on the board and took her board eraser and began to beat my friends. I was the last. When she finished beating each person in the group in turn, she came to me and said, “Open your hand!” I replied, “No, I won’t.” She got irritated and asked me, “Why? How could you dare it?” I answered frantically, “Because in fact, I didn’t speak. I only pointed to my eraser for Ayşenur. Is that a guilt? You can’t beat me. Who do you think you are? Anyway, I haven’t loved you since you came here. God damn you. I was going to a different school, but my parents hindered me. I will ask them to change my school, and then I will get rid of you. I am right. Believe me or not. It’s not important to me, but you should know that you can’t beat me.” She was too bewildered to say anything to me or beat me. During recess, she asked my friends to call my mother. I was crying so I didn’t hear that. When I went home, I said nothing to my parents.
The day after that, my mother came to school. The teacher said to my mother, “You will never need to worry about your child. She is very self-defensive. Nobody can do a bad thing to her if she is right. Be sure your child is very clever and agile.”
From that day on, I have always been like a witch. If it is witchcraft, I have always defended my rights. But I think everybody has to be a witch in this hard life if they don’t want to be distressed. Nobody can defend you if you don’t defend yourself. So let’s know our responsibilities and become our own lawyer.
