Many years I ago I was working in Aspen Colorado as Assistant Director of Education at the Aspen Chapel teaching Hebrew School and Sunday School 45 minutes away from Aspen. At one point in the school year, I could see one of my students was very upset and did not want to participate in class. I made the decision to stop class and ask the boy what was going on and if he wanted to talk. He began by spilling his emotions, talking about his parents upcoming divorce and became very emotional. Suddenly, all the kids began spilling their emotions to me and each other, and it almost became like a group therapy session. In many ways it brought us closer together as a group and made this boy feel like he wasn't alone. Unfortunately, one boy told his mother what had happened and she became livid. She was angry because we had "Wasted the time talking when we should of have been learning." She insisted on sitting in on the classroom and even sent different board directors to "pop" in unannounced to make sure I was actually teaching. To be honest, I am not totally sure how I could have handled the situation differently because I did not believe I did anything wrong. I would like to hear what advice you would have given me in this situation.