Laurinda- Learning Support: Mrs Leslie

Supporting the Cabinet: Mrs. Leslie often ignores the bad behavior of the Cabinet, a group of powerful girls who control social life at Laurinda. She doesn’t stop them from bullying other students, which shows that she helps keep things unfair by not taking action.

Pretend Support: Mrs. Leslie acts like she cares about helping students like Lucy, but her actions don’t match her words. She cares more about keeping the school’s reputation good than fixing the problems like bullying or inequality. This shows how some schools pretend to care, but don’t do much to change real issues.

Connection to Privilege: Mrs. Leslie agrees with the rich and powerful students at Laurinda, like the Cabinet. She rarely tries to change things, showing that she is okay with the school’s rich culture. She values fitting in with the powerful students more than being fair to others.

Lack of True Power: Even though she is a teacher, Mrs. Leslie doesn’t have much power compared to the Cabinet. They are so powerful because of their wealth and social status that they can influence the school more than the teachers can. Mrs. Leslie’s weakness shows how the power system at Laurinda lets some students control everything.

Power and Privilege: Mrs. Leslie shows how the school lets rich students, like the Cabinet, get away with bad behavior, while teachers do nothing to stop it.

Inaction and Complicity: Her character shows how not doing anything can make problems worse, especially when authority figures like teachers fail to take action against bullying or inequality.

Class and Inequality: Mrs. Leslie’s treatment of Lucy shows how students from poor backgrounds are treated unfairly at Laurinda, while rich students are given special treatment.

Mrs. Leslie’s actions make Lucy feel more alone and frustrated. At first, Lucy hopes that teachers like Mrs. Leslie will help her, but she soon realizes that Mrs. Leslie cares more about keeping things the same than helping students like her. This makes Lucy rely on her own strength to get through challenges at Laurinda.

Mrs. Leslie represents how the school itself operates—on the outside, it looks like a nice, respectable place, but inside, it lets harmful behaviors and unfairness thrive. For Lucy, Mrs. Leslie represents the disappointment of finding out that authority figures care more about themselves than helping students.

Mrs. Leslie’s character shows how adults in positions of power, like teachers, can help keep unfair systems in place by not acting. Her failure to stand up to the Cabinet and help Lucy shows how power and privilege work at Laurinda, leaving Lucy to face these problems on her own.