first day of school

today was my first day working at the elementary school. i wasn't teaching today, the sub is still there, and i was mainly there to get the feel of it and set up my classroom. this is going to be very, very difficult. i'm going to have a hard year. and what's worse is that i still have to finish out my classes at petsmart, which means that i won't get a day off until november.
today's high and low point were the same. there is this one girl that is a trouble-maker. i don't know her name yet, but all the other teachers said they had to speak to her several times this week. she had to call her mother at one point, and the teacher who was standing there said that she was screaming at her mother about getting in trouble (instead of the other way around) and that she seemed excited about getting to call her mom instead of her grandma (with whom she lives). after school, the sub came up to me and said, "one of the students' parents is here, you should go meet them". so i go out there and shake her hand and it turns out to be that girl's grandmother, who is her guardian, and the bus-driver. all the teachers are talking to her, and apparently, she's getting ratted on by all of them. (there are four fourth grade teachers). i'm standing next to the girl and the grandma is screaming in her face, and the girl is bawling. suddenly, the grandmother slaps her in the face (with rings on every finger) so hard that i flinched because i hadn't seen it coming.
ok, i lied. i don't enjoy seeing kids get beaten. i know the kid deserves severe punishment, because she's out of control, but beating her won't solve anything, and it will only make my job harder. if she's only scared of being hit, and she knows i can't hit her, then she won't fear me. she won't fear the principal, or silent lunch, or missing recess; she'll only fear a note home to grandma.
what happens if grandma suddenly decides she doesn't like me? every time i have to speak to the child, or threaten a note home, she'll just respond "so? call my grandma, i don't care! she's on my side anyway!" this has happened to me before, and it can lead nowhere good.
beating children may not always be the answer.