There are numerous examples of "Charles's" bad behavior at school, which worry Laurie's parents. On the first day at school, Laurie mentions to his parents that the teacher spanked Charles and sent him to the corner for being "fresh," which is another term for acting impolite or disrespectful.

On the second day of school, Laurie reports to his parents that Charles was punished for hitting the teacher. Laurie proceeds to tell his parents that Charles hit his teacher because he wanted to color with green crayons instead of the required red crayons that he was supposed to use.

On Wednesday, Laurie mentions that Charles was punished for bouncing a see-saw on to the head of a little girl, which made her bleed. As punishment, Charles was not allowed to participate in recess. On Thursday, Charles was reprimanded for pounding his feet against the floor during story time. On Friday, Charles threw a piece of chalk and was deprived of his blackboard privileges for the day.

The following week, Laurie tells his mother that Charles refused to do exercises, kicked the physical education instructor, interrupted story time, and hit a boy in the stomach. Before the second parent-teacher meeting, Charles had his mouth washed out with soap after saying a naughty word and was punished for throwing chalk again.