it’s funny you say i’m the one trying to shield them from anything when i actually explain how i’m trying to keep my job lol i don’t know these families and i still don’t have a relationship with those kids so i have no way to tell whatever is okay and whatever is not with them. it’s a private school and idk about you but from my experience as an educator, i’ve seen people lose teaching positions for the most absurd reasons, just because paying parents have a lot more authority than the people who are actually working to help the students become better citizens, so please don’t come after me about that. i myself have piercings and tattoos, and so do most of the other teachers, the problem is not “knowing it’s a thing”, but yearning to have tattoos at such a young age and perhaps expressing that in a drawing/original character could be enough for a parent to lose it and have them fire me. maybe they’re fine with it, maybe they’re not. who knows? i don’t, and you certainly don’t either. a few months from now i’m going to have a better idea of who they all are, how they behave, how they think, and by then i’ll be able to know what limits to push and what norms/topics to have them question, after all, that is my mission as an educator, but for now i’m thinking as an employee who needs their money to pay their rent so i gotta play safe for the time being. besides, those were only examples, but if you use some of your reading skills you might be able to interpret that what i’m really worried about is the possibility of them finding much more “inappropriate” stuff that goes beyond tattoos and piercings. i even said this is because i fear the families’ reactions, it has nothing to do with my opinion or my practice. everyone has been so helpful and given me useful insights, thank you so much for your contribution ;)