I went to an elementary school with a special ed. program. In the harsh and judgmental world of a child, the special ed. students were the very lowest of the low on the popularity scale. In fact, when I was in third grade, my mom bought me a blue coat from Sear's. I was perfectly happy with it until I found out that one of the special ed. kids had the same coat. I never wore it again. Even being associated with them was horrible (so maybe mainstreaming is a good idea, certainly a traditional special ed. program in an otherwise 'normal' school is quite cruel).

One day, in the third or fourth grade, John XXX (he's one of those people who is only referred to by his full name) was sitting down under a tree. John wasn't popular by any means, but no one really disliked him. Lee came up behind him, unzipped his fly, and pee'd on John XXX's head. I'm a little fuzzy on Lee's motivation. Maybe John had been teasing him earlier or maybe Lee just thought it would be funny. Either way, I have come to think of this as one of the greatest playground offences ever committed. When one of the special ed. kids (who is, basically, of the untouchable under-caste) belittles or insults someone, that's bad. But a special ed. kid peeing on your head? That just about says it all with chimpanzee-like clarity.